Problems are mounting for a controversial company at the centre of a multimillion-rand toilet scandal after it emerged that its other sanitation projects have stalled as the company owes millions of rands to sub-contractors.
Siyenza Group, which is not officially registered, is facing major problems in its other projects in the Northern Cape and is unlikely to finish the project on time.
The Northern Cape project also involves building toilets in municipalities around that province and was cited as justification for it being hand-picked for a R631-million contract to build 66000 toilets in villages around Amathole district municipality – a rural council in the Eastern Cape.
Last week a Dispatch team spent three days visiting a number of Siyenza’s construction sites in the Northern Cape.
The three days were also spent speaking to municipal officials, construction service providers and beneficiaries – some of whom had been waiting for close to a year for the delivery of toilets by Siyenza.
Today we can reveal that in at least two of 10 sites visited, work has been halted.
In one, no work had been done since the end of last year.
In both Marateneng and Posdne in Postmasburg, near Kimberley, construction had been halted after contractors downed tools because of Siyenza’s failure to pay them millions of rands for work already done.
The Dispatch also discovered that the scale of the Northern Cape project was small in comparison with the ADM sanitation project – raising questions of how Siyenza had been awarded the ADM contract.
ADM municipal manager Chris Magwangqana had earlier argued that the municipality had used Section 32 of the Supply Chain Management Act which allows it to contract a company already contracted by another organ of state.
When activating Section 32, the municipality is supposed to award the contract to a company which has handled similar projects both in size and value.
The Northern Cape contract is for R119-million and was awarded to Siyenza in February last year.
Two months later, the company was recommended to ADM by the Municipal Infrastructure Support Agency (Misa) because of its track record.
The project was initially meant to deliver 5500 toilets, but this has since been downscaled and Siyenza will now only build 3000 units.
One of the sub-contractors employed by Siyenza said he had been responsible for connecting toilets to sanitation pipes, but because of non-payments could not continue.
“It’s been months now. I’ve been trying to negotiate payments with them but there has been no success and my business is now suffering because of this,” the contractor, Chris Kunneke, said.
He claimed Siyenza owed him about R1.4-million.
Siyenza is owned by Eastern Cape-born Bongani Mpeluza. Numerous attempts this week to contact him for comment were unsuccessful.
No response to questions sent to him and Nkosifikile Gqomo, who now speaks on behalf of Siyenza, had been received at the time of writing yesterday.
Over the last couple of weeks the Saturday Dispatch has reported extensively on the ADM sanitation project which has been dogged by problems after the toilets started collapsing.
Unlike the ADM pit toilets, the units in the Northern Cape are flushing toilets connected to the municipality sanitation system.
While in some areas the toilets have been successfully built, residents in Marateneng and Posdne spoke of their frustration at the construction’s slow pace. They claimed only a handful of houses had finished flushing toilets.
These were corroborated by Siyenza employees and municipal officials.
Sophie Dikhudu, a community liaison officer for Siyenza in Marateneng said there had not been any construction since the beginning of the month.
“We are still in the dark. Rumour has it that it’s the issue of payments with Misa and Siyenza. People are furious because a lot of people still use the bucket system here,” Dikhudu said.
Out of the 1000 toilets that were supposed to have been built in both these areas, only 361 have been connected to the sanitation system – more than a year into the project. During a visit to site offices in both Posdne and Marateneng, material meant to erect toilets, lay gathering dust with weeds growing around them.
A site supervisor, only identified as Sivuyile, confirmed “there was no work”. He referred the Dispatch to Siyenza for further questions.
Tsantsabane local municipality spokesman Joseph Kekgopilue confirmed the project had been suspended last year.
“There was an issue with the contractor and workers. The contractor (Siyenza) is not receiving money from the department; that is what is stalling the process,” Kekgopilue said.
Kekgopilue said the June deadline to build the toilets was unlikely to be met.
“The only toilets that work are in Marateneng. In Posdne there is nothing connected. There is only the 361 in Marateneng out of the 1000 units that are supposed to be built.”
After the Dispatch sent questions to Mpeluza this week, he called Kunneke, the contractor claiming he is owed R1.4-million, inviting him to the negotiation table.
“Now he wants to cut the R1.4-million he owes me to R600000. I can never allow that,” Kunneke said yesterday.
PHOTO GALLERY: Siyenza also fails in N Cape project
Siyenza Group, which is not officially registered, is facing major problems in its other projects in the Northern Cape and is unlikely to finish the project on time.
The Northern Cape project also involves building toilets in municipalities around that province and was cited as justification for it being hand-picked for a R631-million contract to build 66000 toilets in villages around Amathole district municipality – a rural council in the Eastern Cape.
Last week a Dispatch team spent three days visiting a number of Siyenza’s construction sites in the Northern Cape.
The three days were also spent speaking to municipal officials, construction service providers and beneficiaries – some of whom had been waiting for close to a year for the delivery of toilets by Siyenza.
Today we can reveal that in at least two of 10 sites visited, work has been halted.
In one, no work had been done since the end of last year.
In both Marateneng and Posdne in Postmasburg, near Kimberley, construction had been halted after contractors downed tools because of Siyenza’s failure to pay them millions of rands for work already done.
The Dispatch also discovered that the scale of the Northern Cape project was small in comparison with the ADM sanitation project – raising questions of how Siyenza had been awarded the ADM contract.
ADM municipal manager Chris Magwangqana had earlier argued that the municipality had used Section 32 of the Supply Chain Management Act which allows it to contract a company already contracted by another organ of state.
When activating Section 32, the municipality is supposed to award the contract to a company which has handled similar projects both in size and value.
The Northern Cape contract is for R119-million and was awarded to Siyenza in February last year.
Two months later, the company was recommended to ADM by the Municipal Infrastructure Support Agency (Misa) because of its track record.
The project was initially meant to deliver 5500 toilets, but this has since been downscaled and Siyenza will now only build 3000 units.
One of the sub-contractors employed by Siyenza said he had been responsible for connecting toilets to sanitation pipes, but because of non-payments could not continue.
“It’s been months now. I’ve been trying to negotiate payments with them but there has been no success and my business is now suffering because of this,” the contractor, Chris Kunneke, said.
He claimed Siyenza owed him about R1.4-million.
Siyenza is owned by Eastern Cape-born Bongani Mpeluza. Numerous attempts this week to contact him for comment were unsuccessful.
No response to questions sent to him and Nkosifikile Gqomo, who now speaks on behalf of Siyenza, had been received at the time of writing yesterday.
Over the last couple of weeks the Saturday Dispatch has reported extensively on the ADM sanitation project which has been dogged by problems after the toilets started collapsing.
Unlike the ADM pit toilets, the units in the Northern Cape are flushing toilets connected to the municipality sanitation system.
While in some areas the toilets have been successfully built, residents in Marateneng and Posdne spoke of their frustration at the construction’s slow pace. They claimed only a handful of houses had finished flushing toilets.
These were corroborated by Siyenza employees and municipal officials.
Sophie Dikhudu, a community liaison officer for Siyenza in Marateneng said there had not been any construction since the beginning of the month.
“We are still in the dark. Rumour has it that it’s the issue of payments with Misa and Siyenza. People are furious because a lot of people still use the bucket system here,” Dikhudu said.
Out of the 1000 toilets that were supposed to have been built in both these areas, only 361 have been connected to the sanitation system – more than a year into the project. During a visit to site offices in both Posdne and Marateneng, material meant to erect toilets, lay gathering dust with weeds growing around them.
A site supervisor, only identified as Sivuyile, confirmed “there was no work”. He referred the Dispatch to Siyenza for further questions.
Tsantsabane local municipality spokesman Joseph Kekgopilue confirmed the project had been suspended last year.
“There was an issue with the contractor and workers. The contractor (Siyenza) is not receiving money from the department; that is what is stalling the process,” Kekgopilue said.
Kekgopilue said the June deadline to build the toilets was unlikely to be met.
“The only toilets that work are in Marateneng. In Posdne there is nothing connected. There is only the 361 in Marateneng out of the 1000 units that are supposed to be built.”
After the Dispatch sent questions to Mpeluza this week, he called Kunneke, the contractor claiming he is owed R1.4-million, inviting him to the negotiation table.
“Now he wants to cut the R1.4-million he owes me to R600000. I can never allow that,” Kunneke said yesterday.
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