Builders told to fix up homes

two building contractors have been accused of shoddy workmanship at a housing project in burgersdorp.

the housing and local government department said this week that the eastern cape building association (ecba) and mlambo developers had been given until september 20 to fix the problems.

spokesman mbulelo linda said the department had approved 1,000 housing units for burgersdorp in 2002.

of these units, 887 are now occupied.

but another 113 cannot be occupied because they are uninhabitable, have been vandalised and allegedly have not been handed over to beneficiaries.

the ecba built 280 houses, mlambo developers built 488 and the remaining 232 were subcontracted to ingwenya builders' association.

linda said the department has conducted site visits to assess the quality of the houses.

a departmental report said there were cracks in the walls and the paint was peeling due to the poor mortar mix in many of the houses.

the report also said steel reinforcements were exposed and not secured correctly, cement blocks were crumbling and window panes were popping out and breaking.

"there are a number of houses on site that have the reinforcement steel sticking out of the u-block (cement bricks)," the report said.

some houses were handed over without the water being connected.

"the situation leads beneficiaries to be unable to use toilets," the report said.

"the most glaring problem was the weakness of the mortar used in the building of the houses and the concrete used in the u-blocks."

linda said it was agreed at a recent meeting with the contractors that the remedial work would be completed and the houses handed over to beneficiaries by september 20.

the contractors have to draw up a work schedule and report weekly to the department on their progress.

linda said the department was visiting various projects.

"the department wants to ensure that value for money is equal to the value on the ground.

"the poor quality of houses is indirectly denying beneficiaries their rights to benefit from a government policy that aims to remove people from squalor to permanent housing structures."