Question NW3727 to the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services

Reply:

a) The Potchefstroom Magistrate Court was constructed in 1986. The office has been attending to minor repairs of the building through day to day maintenance, with the assistance from Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI). The court building experienced roof leakages over time due to cracked and damaged roof tiles. Part of the roof over the court rooms and the cash hall collapsed due to rotten roof trusses and damaged roof tiles.

b) The court is old and should have been maintained regularly to prevent it from dilapidating. The lack of timeous maintenance is what caused the roof to leak and the trusses to rot and eventually cave in.

DPWI registered a project for repairs and renovations for the whole court facility. The contractor was appointed and site handover date was 27 February 2020, over a period of 18 months. The contract amount was R23 million. The challenge to the roof was identified on the project scope and also discussed in project meetings. The delays to the project were caused by the Covid-19 national shut down, which also affected the construction industry; labour unrests and intimidation by local business forum. Following negotiations and the involvement of the Police Special Task Force Team, the contractor is now back on site effective August 2022. Due to the fact that the court facility is occupied, the project is being executed in phases. The contractor is currently on site and working on the cordoned part of the building, where staff members were moved to other floors and other offices within the building. The contractor had not yet commenced work on the portion where the roof has collapsed, as it is in the middle of the structure, which made it difficult for the contractor to program the works to start in the middle of the building.