R24-million spent on Indwe stadium with little to show for it

Emalahleni Local Municipality has spent R23.8-milllion on this sports stadium, which it says will be complete by June. Photo: Nombulelo Damba-Hendrik.

Seven years after the Emalahleni Local Municipality paid a contractor R10-million to build a sports stadium, the project is still unfinished and the Hawks are in the “initial stage” of a fraud and corruption investigation.

The construction of the Indwe Sports Stadium was supposed to take 18 months and cost R11-million. But to date R23.8-million has been spent and there is little progress.

In July 2018 MBS Civils JV Cudjor Quantity Surveying was awarded the tender and paid R10-million. But less than a year later, the company abandoned the site having built only a small wall.

The Hawks are investigating a case of fraud and corruption, but the investigation is still in its “initial stages”, Hawks spokesperson Ndiphiwe Mhlakuvana told GroundUp.

Emalahleni Local Municipality spokesperson Luthando Nqumkana said no other action has been taken against the contractor. Nor have there been any efforts to recover the spent funds.

MBS Civils could not be reached for comment.

A new tender was awarded in 2023 for R14.5-million, this time to MVI Construction and Maintenance. The contract was for 12 months to finish the stadium, with a netball court, rugby field and soccer field.

But when GroundUp visited the site in March, there was little progress. We did not see any work happening on the site. Floodlights have been installed, but the only building is a changeroom without windows or doors. There are no usable sports facilities and no grandstands.

Nqumkana told GroundUp that the contractor is now on site but acknowledged that progress is slow. He said R12.8-million has been spent on this new tender (excluding the R11-million previously paid to MBS Civils), and that the project is scheduled to be completed by June this year.

Community members are becoming increasingly frustrated with the project. “After the first contractor left, nothing happened. When the second contractor started, it first destroyed the walls built by the first contractor and continued with the work, to prove that the first contractor was paid for nothing,” said community leader Transkei Mjongile.

Another community leader Thabo Khethi said, “The contractor is on and off, they come for a few months then leave and come back again. We don’t know what is happening here.”

“This frustrates us a lot … We want to see our town developed like other small towns but the only thing we see is millions spent with no end results.”

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