A lack of payment resulted in construction workers at Mudabula Primary School at Shihosani village in Malamulele downing tools last Wednesday. This comes after the Andanani Construction Company, which is constructing two blocks of classrooms, an administration block and a feeding block at the school on behalf of the Department of Education, failed to pay them. The 64 workers said they were not paid their wages last week, as per agreement. One of the employees, Sofoto Mathebula, said that it was a bitter pill to swallow when he discovered he had not been paid. “I then checked with my colleagues, only to realise that none of us had been paid,” he said. Mathebula added that his family thought that he might have been paid and misused the money. The company owner, Mr Narie Nengwenani, promised to pay the workers. He said that he was still preparing the salaries. “The delay in paying my workers was as a result of my dependency on my creditors, but I will be paying the workers tomorrow,” Nengwenani said. The spokesperson for the Department of Education, Mr Pat Kgomo, said they paid contractors on time and that it was the responsibility of contractors to pay workers on time as well. It was also reported that at John Mbendhle High School at the same village, construction of a sports centre was halted after workers were not paid for the past six months.