Work on abandoned Centane route to resume soon, MEC promises
The Eastern Cape government has promised Mnquma residents that plans to resurface the Butterworth-centane route would resume by the end of November after it was abandoned for about seven months.
The provincial transport department announced last year that the R409 route between the two towns would be repaired at a cost of R136m, after many complaints by motorists that it was riddled with potholes.
Mamlambo Construction was appointed as the main contractor of the project and introduced to the community by the provincial department of transport in January 2021 at a gathering in the Butterworth town hall.
But earlier this year Mamlambo, which is reportedly facing financial challenges, left the project “abruptly”, according to locals.
The contractor had dug up part of one lane of the route, leaving it a dirt road. This meant that motorists had to compete with one tarred lane which, according to them, resulted in accidents.
In a reply to the Dispatch last month, the department said it had already paid to Mamlambo R51m before it left the project.
This week MEC for transport & community safety Xolile Nqatha visited the Mnquma area where a meeting with stakeholders was held.
The department had earlier promised construction would resume early next year.
But Nqatha’s spokesperson, Makhaya Komisa, said the MEC wanted the project to resume sooner than promised.
“In response to poor road maintenance infrastructure in Mnquma local municipality, in particular the road from Butterworth to Centane, MEC Xolile Nqatha convened a meeting with all stakeholders including municipal leadership, the taxi industry and traditional leaders.
“Speaker after speaker complained about accidents emanating from this poor road maintenance infrastructure,” said Komisa.
In the interim, he said, the department of transport would “attend to potholes and re-gravelling as soon as possible”.
“The plan is to have the new contractor on site as soon as possible and the time frame for completion cannot be confirmed at this stage.
“The contractor will be appointed following due processes as prescribed in the relevant legislation and policies of government.
“The contractor (Mamlambo) has been paid for work done and there are no monies to be recouped except outstanding payment by the contractor to SMMES and those who worked for them.
“This is the part we will be working on with all relevant parties including the liquidator to find solutions,” said Komisa.
Centane-born PAC MP Mzwanele Nyhontso, who was among stakeholders at the meeting with Nqatha, welcomed the MEC’S undertaking.
Nyhontso has been vocal about the project, calling on stakeholders to account.
“We know MEC Nqatha is new in the department. Let’s give him the benefit of the doubt.
“We don’t have a reason not to believe him until he fails to fulfil what he promised.
“We have asked the locals to keep calm but we still want accountability of what happened to the previous contractor,” said Nyhontso.
A Mamlambo representative who spoke to the Dispatch last month said difficulties had arisen “as a result of both fierce competition from the larger national construction companies vying for local work and the lack of work being awarded to Mamlambo by their traditional clients”.
“Notwithstanding the efforts by the provincial transport department to assist, attempts by Mamlambo to diversify, along with repeated non-payments by the smaller construction entities they undertook work for, meant that Mamlambo was simply unable to source the materials required to complete the Butterworth to Centane contract.”
We don’t have a reason not to believe him until he fails to fulfil what he promised. We have asked the locals to keep calm but we still want accountability of what happened to the previous contractor