PELLA Village residents in Rustenburg, North West, are angry with the construction work on an internal road project.
The alleged poor quality of the road has caused frustration among residents.
Local Entrepreneur Seekane Mekgwe expressed shock and disappointment over the careless pavement construction.
Seekane says it's clear the contractor took the money and did shoddy work on the pavement.
He said the pavement was not in good condition.
"It's been a year since the project started. This was caused by poor-quality material. We're not given a fair chance to participate in the project. The contractor has sidelined us while others are over-prioritised," said Mekgwe.
He's calling for the municipality to intervene and describes the project as sabotage.
"There must be an investigation before the road is handed over. We demand that structural defects be rectified before the project is declared complete," he said.
Resident, Raymond Molete, was frustrated with the poor quality of work.
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"The condition of the road is not proper because it's not so strong. This includes the pavement blocks houses and the poor drainage system. When it rains, there's water all over the place," he said.
Daily Sun visited the construction site and noticed cracks on the pavement.
Residents also said there were no construction safety boards. This has resulted in several accidents, as there are no alternative roads or off-ramps.
Moses Kotane Local Municipality communications manager, Berlina Lekgethwane, said the municipality emphasised that various Pella Internal Road project phases are still under construction.
"This has resulted delays in the project due to previous unrest in the community," she said.
She said the anticipated project was scheduled to be finished on 23 December 2023, but the completion date was severely affected.
Lekgethwane said the municipality disputes all of the baseless accusations. He said it was impossible to draw any conclusion that the construction was poor.
"Each local SMME was given an equal chance to participate in the subcontracting process and was transparently offered an opportunity to bid. Let's allow the project to be completed and handed over before any accusations are made," she said.
She added that 50 local community members have been employed while more than five subcontractors got tenders.
