No clarity on the progress of Nancefield Primary School

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11-02-2026
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Soweto Urban
Source

The councillor explained that overlapping Section 79 and PSC meetings limited oversight, leading to gaps in monitoring the project’s progress.

Nancefield Primary School remains incomplete despite previous communication from the Department of Infrastructure Development (DID) indicating that the project would be completed by the end of December 2025.

DID spokesperson Theo Nkonki said the delays were due to community stoppages and disruptive weather conditions.

“The building is 94% complete as we speak. It was at 93% in December,” Nkonki said.

He added that the project is expected to be completed by the end of the financial year.

However, Ward 18 councillor Juwaira Kaldine said the project was not stopped by the community but was temporarily placed on hold due to issues related to the main contractor’s compliance.
The Department of Infrastructure Development A-team from Tulisa Park conducted an inspection visit at Nancefield Primary School on September 30.

    “It has been brought to my attention that the main contractor has not been compliant, yet SMMEs were expected to comply. It is also reflected on the system that the main contractor only filed returns on January 20, after I raised the issue with DID,” Kaldine said.

She clarified that councillors do not appoint main contractors and are not responsible for verifying contractor compliance.

She added that allegations that she appointed the main contractor were false and have not been corrected by DID.

When asked whether her office independently verified the claim that the project is 94% complete, Kaldine said they had not been able to conduct oversight due to the compliance issue.

“DID failed in their oversight role regarding the main contractor’s compliance. We do not have access to company documents and cannot oversee compliance processes.

    “The project was not stopped by the community, but by DID because they failed to ensure the main contractor’s compliance,” she said.

“The delay has not resulted in additional costs, but it could lead to the main contractor being blacklisted. The funds have not been exhausted,” she added.

Soweto Urban asked Kaldine about the role her office played in monitoring the project and how often progress reports were received. She said she was not part of the Project Steering Committee (PSC) from the inception of the project because she is the Section 79 chairperson for Development Planning.

“I deployed a ward committee member onto the PSC in my absence because Section 79 meetings clashed with PSC meetings. Unfortunately, I could not attend both, and there was clearly no oversight conducted by the ward committee member deployed,” Kaldine said.

    “This is how we are where we are now, and why I requested DID to move the monthly PSC meetings to a different week so that I can play my oversight role accordingly,” she added.

Kaldine further alleged that the main contractor owes SMMEs a significant amount of money, which has not yet been paid.

“The department has a responsibility to explain to the community how they missed the contractor’s non-compliance and why it is taking so long to verify it. We met on January 20 when the issue was raised, and as of February 8, there is still no feedback,” she concluded.