Six years down the line, the Makhado Municipality is still unable to complete the street rehabilitation project which it started in 2006 at Waterval. Now community members are accusing the municipality of wasting taxpayers’ money.

On October 24, 2006, the municipality appointed Renkie Building Construction (Tender 20 of 2006) to complete the 1,2 kilometre stretch which formed part of the street rehabilitation project at a cost of R3,788 million. The contractor was eventually paid over R2 million more than the initial tender amount, but failed to ever complete the road.

Last year, the municipality appointed FGN Construction and Plant Hire to reconstruct the same road at an estimated cost of R4.3 million. The contractor was supposed to have completed the street in December last year, but community members now say that the contractor has stopped working on the project. When Mirror visited the site last Friday, no one was on site and nothing much has been done on the road. Potholes are becoming a major problem, following the good rains during December and January.

Community members are also questioning the amount of R4.3 million that has been budgeted for the road by the municipality. They say it is too much for the 1.2 kilometre road.

According to councillor Gift Maguga of Ward 16 of the Makhado Municipality, the construction on the road has stopped because of other problems that he could not disclose to the media. According to him, nothing is happening at the construction site for now. "We are going to have a meeting next week to discuss other issues concerning the road, but the road (construction) will still continue," said Maguga.