Contractual dispute stops Ventersdorp project

Contractor says he has lost R37m

The contractual dispute between the JB Marks local municipality and Matonoka Holdings has brought a multibillion -rand development project that was expected to bring significant economic benefits to a grinding stop.

Matonoka Holdings was awarded a tender for the N14 development project that was promised in 2006 by the now-defunct Ventersdorp local municipality.

Now, the JB Marks local municipality, which was formed by the amalgamation of the Ventersdorp and Tlokwe local municipalities in August 2016, said the implementation of the construction project that was worth more than R5-billion cannot take place until the contractual dispute was resolved.

JB Marks local municipality spokesperson Jeannette Tshite said it has obtained a legal opinion regarding the awarding of the tender.

“Basically, the municipality has obtained a legal opinion that seeks to understand whether the contract was irregularly awarded.

“Remember, the municipality was once under Section 139 (1) (b) and the matter was raised by the then administrator,” Tshite said. “So, this matter was scheduled to be discussed during the ordinary council meeting in May 2022.

“However, the North West provincial legislature’s portfolio committee on the premier, finance and local government recommended that the matter be discussed on an urgent basis,” Tshite said.

She said the matter might now form part of the agenda of the April 26 council meeting.

The chairperson of Matonoka Holdings, Horatius Malunga, said the delays have cost him more than R37-million. Despite numerous attempts to resolve issues, the municipality was still not coming to the party.

“Following many years of back and forth with the municipality, we are still awaiting both signed land availability agreement and memorandum of agreement documents.

“As the contractor, in good faith we have mobilised onto site and incurred R15-million in claims from sub-contractors. This was on top of the R30-million claims we already had from consultants.

“So, we are not able to reestablish [a presence] on site as long as the awaited commitments from both the municipality and the department are not forthcoming,” Malunga said.

He said his company had also depleted its reserves.

Malunga, who said he was never informed about any legal opinion the municipality got regarding the awarding of the tender, said that the delay in the project meant that the local community were being denied their basic rights to clean water, functioning sewers, reliable electricity supply, good homes, educational and medical facilities and a shopping centre.

Meanwhile, the chairperson of the portfolio committee, Aaron Motswana, said: “I can confirm that we have met with the North West cooperative governance, human settlement and traditional affairs department and JB Marks local municipality over the N14 development project. Afterwards, we met with the Matonoka Holdings company.

“We are satisfied with the progress made in terms of the bulk services done by the department in that particular area.

“However, what remains is a contractual dispute between the municipality and Matonoka Holdings that has caused an insurmountable delay in terms of the project.”

Motswana said as the committee, they are also unhappy with the slow pace of the project, for which they blamed the municipality.

He said the project started in 2007, and it should have been completed by now and benefited the community of Ventersdorp and the province at large.

One of the community leaders, Khuduga Dibe, said it was heart-breaking to see many projects that were supposed to benefit Ventersdorp being abandoned.

Dibe said they have experienced poor service delivery since the amalgamation of the Ventersdorp and Tlokwe local municipalities, and would be happy to see the N14 project get off the ground.