The roof of the Greater Tzaneen Municipality building caved under the pressure of the annual seasonal rains this week which caused massive flooding of the entire Engineering Department situated on the top floor of the White House.
Bulletin walked through the damage on Friday the 10th of February, and saw brand new office furniture buckling as there pressed wood supports soaked up the water like a dry Weetbix biscuit. Laptops were drenched in water and all the hallways were flooded. Most concerning is the archives department that holds all the building plans which was flooded as well.
The video of this damage can be viewed on our Facebook page Far North Bulletin.
According to Vutivi Makhubele, spokesperson for the GTM, the municipality is currently consolidating the extent of the damage and she will report back on the financial losses suffered as a result of the flooding.
“The asset management team is busy compiling a report on all the damage,” she said.
In response to an official inquiry Makhubele said that the contract to install the new roof onto the municipal buildings was awarded to Mbanga Trading Enterprises. The contract expired and the contractor is working on extension currently. The value of the contract was R6 473 615,42
Bulletin received reports that he contractor was employing EPWP workers on site and according to Makhubele this was standard procedure.
“Yes, all government projects are compelled to use EPWP workers as per the government gazette,” she said.
On Wednesday afternoon one of the controversial water tankers regularly noticed at fire hydrants around town was spotted at the municipal buildings. It appeared as though the water tanker was being used to pump out the water from the Engineering floor. This was confirmed by Makhubele who stated that the tanker is owned by the contractor.
This is a developing story and we will publish updates as they become available.
