Question NW1104 to the Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture
13 April 2023 - NW1104
Luthuli, Mr BN to ask the Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture
Whether, in view of the construction at the Ohlange Heritage Site in Inanda, KwaZulu-Natal, where the massive JL Dube Memorial Amphitheatre worth R33m is currently being built, he will furnish Inkosi B N Luthuli with details on (a) the progress of the building, (b) the challenges faced by his department in the development of the project and (c) how his department with its partners have overcome the specified challenges; if not, why not, in each case; if so, what are the relevant details in each case?
Reply:
According to the information received from the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture
(a) The project is currently at 95% progress (practical completion), service providers are currently attending to identified snag-list, it is anticipated that the snag-list will be completed within the next two weeks and the project will be handed over back to the department for further handling.
(b) The challenges faced by the department in the development of the project are as follows.
- Termination of 1st Implementing Agent due to poor performance
- Termination of contract by the initial contractor
- Stoppages and delays due to Covid-19
- Project stoppages due to strikes (Local Business Forums, National Shutdown, KZN-Strike) and KZN Floods
(c) The Department appointed Independent Development Trust (IDT) as the implementing agent however the Memorandum of Agreement was terminated due to unsatisfactory workmanship on site. The department then appointed the private company Risimati Consulting Engineers as an implementing agent on its behalf. The department then established a project steering committee to monitor and steer the project towards completion, the steering committee initially sat once a month, however due to challenges especially related to local business forum, the steering committee has been sitting on weekly basis so as to ensure progress and that deliverables of the project are realized by the set completion date.