Africa-Press – South-Africa. Cape Town – Human Settlements Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi is cracking down on contractors involved in building shoddy houses, saying action would be taken against them.
She said they would have to keep an eye on the housing projects to avoid the projects falling through the cracks.
The department would not tolerate poor workmanship in its housing projects.
Kubayi was visiting the Eastern Cape where some of the houses had been left uncompleted for some years.
“We can no longer allow, under such a constrained fiscal environment, project developers and contractors to waste public resources on poorly implemented or incomplete projects. From now henceforth, we are going to tighten contract management such that consequence management is integral in every contract. Any contractor who, without a reasonable explanation, is found to have violated contractual obligations will be dealt with accordingly,” said Kubayi.
The department has in the past raised red-flags over some of these shoddy houses.
During her visit to the province some of the houses had not been completed after many years, while others had been abandoned by the contractors.
The government has in the past said these shoddy projects cost it billions of rands, and put a strain on the public purse.
Kubayi said they would have to crackdown on the contractors who abandon projects and don’t finish off their work.
The department has previously said it has a backlog in some of the housing projects.
The state pumps in billions of rands every year for the construction of houses.
