North West construction firm fails to overturn blacklisting

A North West-based construction company has unsuccessfully attempted to obtain an urgent interdict to prevent the provincial department of public works, roads and transport from blacklisting it for poor workmanship. The urgent application was launched by Willie-Webb Holdings Joint Venture (J/V) Marang Distributors in the North West High Court in Mahikeng on Thursday. The department in July gave notice for the company to provide reasons within 14 days why the department should not proceed with a process to bar and blacklist the company from government contracts for a period of five years. Matshube Mfoloe, the director of communications for the department, said yesterday the department was encouraged by the court’s decision to dismiss the company’s application on the basis it was not urgent. The matter must now be placed on the court roll for a normal hearing. Mfoloe said the department would be defending the court action.

He said the written notice sent to Willie-Webb Holdings J/V Marang Distributors related to the department’s current head office building on Ngaka Modiri Molema Road in Mahikeng. The department had on several occasions raised its displeasure with the construction company’s poor workmanship delivered to the provincial government. Mfoloe said the contractor began work on the project in 2004 and the building was completed in August 2008 but had visible structural defects, compounded by poor workmanship on the finishes. “Following our engagements and correspondence to Willie-Webb Holdings J/V Marang Distributors… to persuade the company to fix their poor workmanship, we neither got joy nor a commitment from the company to ever own up to the serious defects,” he said. Mfoloe said the department had to date also not received, as requested, any reasons from the company why the department should not proceed with the process of barring or blacklisting the company.

He added that the department was now in the process of contracting an independent professional team to conduct an audit on the department’s existing building. “We hope to get a report from this team before the end of next month because of the urgency of the matter,” he said. The planned blacklisting of Willie-Webb Holdings J/V Marang Distributors is only one example of the department getting tough on contractors working on provincial government contracts. It last week gave an ultimatum to five road construction companies appointed to rehabilitate and upgrade five roads in Mahikeng to complete these contracts within two weeks or to vacate the construction sites. The contractors, including Ultrasonic Express, IBD Civils J/V Phenno Business Enterprise, all have to complete these projects by September 23. Mahlakeng Mahlakeng, the provincial MEC for public works, roads and transport, said these projects were initially three month contracts but were revised following changes related to either the supply of road material, alleged late payments and unforeseen additional work following the discovery of a layer of clay soil underneath the earth surface on one of the roads earmarked for improvement.

Mahlakeng said none of the companies had raised any objections to the ultimatum and the department had also made a commitment to fast track all payments due to contractors to enable them to meet the deadline and deliver on quality. He added the backlog for the maintenance of roads was a national crisis, with the department needing about R2.5 billion to adequately address the existing road maintenance backlog. This amount excludes the money required to construct new roads and several bridges.