Work was so shoddy, that’s why

RESPONDING to the recommendations, Derrick Naidoo rejected accusations of wrongdoing in the process of awarding the contract to an another contractor to remedy the workmanship of DKS Holdings.

“I clearly recall taking my management team to the site to inspect the work done by DKS and we were shocked at what we found. The flooring was not done properly, the walls were warped and were not straight and the entire work was shoddy. What should have been a housing project in completion was nowhere near habitable. We then followed all quality assurance processes and awarded the contract to the alternative provider to fix the workmanship of DKS Holdings, so that we could provide quality housing for people to live in. There was absolutely nothing untoward about the process, and the fact that we had to pay R14 million to another contractor is evidence of the magnitude of the poor workmanship we were dealt with,” said Naidoo.

A lawyer by profession, Naidoo also questioned why the city had chosen to settle out of court with DKS Holdings, given that it had already won the court case. “The critical question is, why settle when the city won? This happened after my time, and the current management needs to answer to taxpayers on this decision. If anything, they should be instituting a counter claim to recoup the money spent on fixing the shoddy work, not settling with the same company,” added Naidoo.

Pather could not be reached for comment yesterday.