How I cry for my beloved country!
The City of Tshwane / Pretoria is still reeling from shock after it uncovered a R100-million project that was
messed up by the previous administration.
New mayor, Solly Msimanga, took journalists on an exclusive tour of the Tshwane City Hall in the city centre
on Thursday afternoon.
His predecessor‚ Kgosientso Ramokgopa‚ approved the renovation of the City Hall to house the mayor and
his staff. But this multimillion rand project resulted in some of the most ridiculous things ever done in
construction.
The walls were painted long before the work of fixing the hall was completed. Technicians then tried
installing smoke detectors and cameras but could not finish their work — living proof of the unqualified
project manager who was overseeing the work.
Workers then decided to put cement over a wooden floor‚ something that left journalists confused.
In the main hall‚ besides the mess on the floor and the organ‚ the seats in the balcony were all stolen.
Most door handles‚ all made of brass‚ were stolen.
That is just on the first floor. On the second floor computer servers have been placed directly facing
sunlight and holes were drilled to squeeze cables through the walls which compromised the structural
integrity of the building.
Then‚ in the most beautiful room in the building — the old Pretoria Council Chamber — workers decided
to paint on top of huge heritage paintings‚ messing up paintings which have been there for decades.
Pieter de Necker‚ senior strategic executive specialist in the mayor’s office expressed the pain.
“Six companies withdrew their intentions to shoot films in this room. One of them wanted to shoot
Mandela’s Rivonia trial but had to cancel due to the kind of work that was done here‚” he said.
De Necker said less damage had been done here than in other rooms.
Just for the mayor bathroom tiles‚ the city was billed R100‚000. The walls leading to his office have wall
paper for which the city was charged R8‚000 a metre [correct]. For the lousily-fitted wallpaper the city
totally spent about R200‚000.
Some of the glass doors were not properly measured and workers just used whatever was available to
close the gaps on top.
Ordinary paint on the walls of the corridors has spikes. If you were to rub your shoulder on it‚ 80% of your
skin will peel off. Kitchen furniture was bought‚ somewhat cheaply and‚ strangely‚ is blue.
Workers installed the cupboards before putting in a dishwasher. The mess left is unbelievable. The also
invoiced the city for kitchen appliances which were all bought in pairs and none of them was found when
the new administration took over.
In the mayor’s dining room‚ there is a strange piece of furniture belonging to a zoo.
“This comes from Limpopo. We don’t know what it was supposed to do in the dining room‚” said de Necker.
In the boardroom‚ there is piece of a round table imported from Korea. It has been damaged by the
shoddy work done on the roof. There is also a glass table with a piece of wood as the stand. The city
coughed up R60‚000 for it.
“We will get to the bottom of this. People will have to be held accountable‚” Msimanga vowed as journalists
stood in disbelief of what they had seen.
The roof was leaking and it damaged the organ which is one of the biggest of its kind in the southern
hemisphere.
The City of Tshwane / Pretoria now has to disassemble it, and ship it to Chicago in the US to be fixed at a
cost of about (converted) R18-million.....
Mind boggling, to say the least ! And this is only ONE city in SA....and if we dare criticize, they’ll play
the race card...
How I cry for my beloved country!
Pretoria City Hall
R100-million project
How I cry for
my beloved country!
October 2016 - Pretoria
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