Chairperson of Infrastructure Development Committee, Honourable Lindiwe Lasindwa, has expressed concern over the management of the Thelle Mogoerane Hospital Staff Accommodation Project in Vosloorus by the Gauteng Department of Infrastructure Development (GDID).
During an oversight visit by Committee members on 10 November 2016, workers held the committee hostage and demanded the Committee’s attention to discuss labour related grievances experienced in the project. Hon. Lasindwa accompanied by the Head of GDID  addressed the workers  and appealed to meet with worker representatives, GDID, the main contractor and sub-contractors on 11 November 2016.
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During an oversight visit by Committee members on 10 November 2016, workers held the committee hostage and demanded the Committee’s attention to discuss labour related grievances experienced in the project. Hon. Lasindwa accompanied by the Head of GDID  addressed the workers  and appealed to meet with worker representatives, GDID, the main contractor and sub-contractors on 11 November 2016.
Subsequent to this meeting, Hon. Lasindwa expected a report on Monday 21 November 2016, which detailed grievances raised by workers, including:

  • Late payments by some of the sub-contractors
  • Some workers do not have employment contracts
  • Racial discrimination, e.g. the regular use of the ‘K word’ on site
  • Workers being paid on different working rates

In both the meetings of the 11 and 21 November the Gauteng MEC for Infrastructure Development and the Head of Department failed to attend to provide the Chairperson with a report on the Department’s plans to address worker grievances.
Hon. Lasindwa said, “Failure by the MEC and HOD to show up at these meetings is a clear indication that the Department is not taking this matter seriously as the project was supposed to have been completed by 23 November 2016.

“We have listened to the workers and indeed some of their grievances are genuine, but as a Committee we cannot intervene directly by raising this matters with the Contractors because we would be acting outside of our mandate.  The Department has the responsibility of dealing directly with the Contractor and ensure that matters that constitute any bridge of labour laws are addressed.”

“What we have also established is that the Main Contractor, has subcontracted 7 contractors and the 7 contractors have also subcontracted other contractors.  We believe that this might be the root cause of the challenges experienced by the workers particularly on issues of payment of different working rates”, she added.

The Committee will further engage the Department on the matter and ensure that worker grievances are addressed as these might have an adverse impact on their productivity and further delay the completion of the project.  She further stated that had the Committee not conducted oversight at the construction site, issues raised by the workers would never have surfaced and received the necessary attention. She said this showed weakness in the Department’s project management culture.

The Portfolio Committee on Infrastructure Development is responsible for providing oversight on the Gauteng Department of Infrastructure Development and oversees the Department’s programmes, expenditures and implementation of policies.

For interview requests with the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee please contact: Mr Thebe Khumalo on 011 498 5948 / 072 266 1021 email: TKhumalo@gpl.gov.za