Bungling shutters old age home
● The Tembisa Old Age Home on the East Rand has been an abandoned white elephant for almost two years, after residents were evacuated due to potentially dangerous structural defects.
Just five years after it was constructed at a cost of R30m, doorways built without lintels had begun to sag, putting its 45 residents in danger.
The City of Ekurhuleni was tasked by the Gauteng social development department with tracking down the contractor to fix the latent defects, but could not trace him, concluding that the company “doesn’t exist any more”.
Now the department is drafting specifications for the repairs, estimated to cost about R500,000, to be done by a “specialised service provider” yet to be appointed.
Yet this week, the Sunday Times tracked the contractor down within one day.
BuildAgain Projects 203 CC director Ravine Perumal said he had never been contacted by either the city or the department.
He said the business is active and has been in operation for more than 20 years.
“We built the structure eight years ago. There was a full professional team involved in this job, and we built it according to the drawing that was provided to us.
“If there are structural damages or whatever the case may be, then that must be investigated properly. It opens a can of worms and unfortunately we would have to go back there.”
Department spokesperson Fezile Ndwanyana, after being told that the Sunday Times had tracked down the company directors, said: “It will be also be appreciated if the contact details … can be provided so that the information can be shared with the municipality.” She said the home had been built as a partnership, with the City of Ekurhuleni as the implementing agent.
Ndwanyana said about the defects: “It was found after an assessment that no lintels were installed above door and window frames. As a result, the brick walls had sagged and that was seen to be posing danger to the lives of the occupants.”
The closure meant 31 residents had to return to their families. Others were placed in alternative centres. It has also meant no income for the home’s 35 staff members.
Locals said the centre had been a beacon of hope.
“We were expecting good things to come out this home as there are many people unemployed in our community. But instead there was corruption, hence it’s still closed,” said Philile Zikalala.
Zikalala’s family had to take back her grandmother when the home closed.
“It was difficult, frustrating for her to get used to being around a lot of people and how we do things in the houses versus the routine they had at the centre, but she adjusted.”
Local councillor Bongani Nkosi said the closure of the home “has been greatly felt in the community because there are many elderly people who need the service”.
Caregiver Violet Toah was left without a job. She said: “It has been extremely difficult for me to survive. Jobs are really scarce and I could not even get the R350 [Covid] grant for the unemployed because, on the system, it appears as if I am employed.
“What is more heartbreaking is that we are in the dark, we do not know what is happening or if we will ever return to work,” she said.
Gauteng MEC for social development Morakane Mosupyoe said she would investigate the matter and ensure measures are put in place to “avoid such recurrences”.