ActionSA is deeply outraged by the ongoing failure, suspected cronyism, and blatant financial mismanagement surrounding the Nelson Mandela Drive Bridge project in Polokwane.
What was meant to be a critical piece of public infrastructure has instead degenerated into an apparent R70 million “cash cow” for politically connected individuals, leaving the residents of Polokwane to bear the brunt of delayed development. The project, which commenced in 2021 with an initial budget of R50 million, has seen its costs balloon to over R70 million.
Despite this massive injection of public funds, the bridge remains less than 50% complete. This catastrophic failure is a direct result of a revolving door of contractors, with the current appointed contractor, allegedly a close friend of the Polokwane Mayor, being the fourth since the project’s inception.
Even more disturbing are reports that this contractor has abruptly vanished from the site, leaving local labourers and subcontractors completely unpaid for their hard work. Despite these blatant red flags, no corrective action has been taken by the municipality, nor has there been any attempt to blacklist the delinquent contractors. This points to a deeply entrenched culture of protecting politically aligned insiders at the expense of accountability and public service delivery.
To address this crisis and restore integrity to the municipality’s expenditure, ActionSA demands an immediate independent forensic audit into the procurement processes, specifically focusing on the appointment of all four successive contractors and a detailed financial reconciliation of how the R70 million was spent.
Furthermore, we demand the immediate blocklisting of these failed contractors from ever doing business with the state again, alongside urgent municipal intervention to ensure that the exploited local labourers and subcontractors receive their outstanding wages without delay. Finally, the Mayor must publicly account for their alleged personal relationship with the vanished contractor and explain how a R50 million project was allowed to stall while over-allocating R20 million in public funds.
ActionSA will not sit idly by while the hard-earned money of Polokwane taxpayers is funnelled into the pockets of connected elites. We will utilise all available council mechanisms to ensure those responsible for this failure are held legally and financially accountable. Polokwane deserves a government that builds bridges to connect communities, not to line the pockets of friends.
ActionSA Logo: Features a stylized “A” in green, white, and black.
ReiGnZ
Fun South African Fact: Lions, elephants and giraffes may not roam the city streets, but nature and animals are never too far away in South Africa. From vervet monkeys swinging through tree-lined streets in the suburbs and baboons frolicking around Cape Point to seals visiting the Hout Bay harbour in search of a fishy snack and an array of bird species taking to the sky at any given moment. Wildlife is all around!
Sugar Apple
Diary of an Englishman after he moves to South Africa….
**August 1**: Just got transferred with work from London, UK to our new home in Phalaborwa, Limpopo, South Africa. Now this is a town that knows how to live! Beautiful, sunny days and warm, balmy evenings. I watched the sunset from a deckchair by our pool yesterday. It was beautiful. I’ve finally found my new home. I love it here.
**September 1:** Really heating up now. It got to 31 today. No problem though. Living in air-conditioned home, driving air-conditioned car. What a pleasure to see the sun every day like this. I’m turning into a sun-worshipper – no blasted rain like back in London! Had the back yard landscaped with tropical plants today. Lots of palms and rocks. No more mowing lawns for me! Another scorcher today, but I love it here. It’s Paradise !
**October 1:** The temperature hasn’t been below 35 all week. How do people get used to this kind of heat? At least today it’s windy though. Keeps the flies off a bit. Acclimatizing is taking longer than we expected. Fell asleep by the pool yesterday. Got third degree burns over 60% of my body. Missed three days off work. What a dumb thing to do. Got to respect the old sun in a climate like this!
**October 25:** This wind is a bastard. It feels like a giant fucking blow dryer. And it’s hot as hell! The home air conditioner is on the blink and the repair man charged R200 just to drive over and tell me he needs to order parts from @#$# Johannesburg. The wife & the kids are complaining.
**October 30:** The temperature’s up around 40 and the parts still haven’t arrived for the fucking air conditioner. House is an oven so we’ve all been sleeping outside by the pool for 3 nights now. Bleeding R4 million house and we can’t even go inside. Why the hell did I ever come here?
**November 4:** Finally got the fucking air-conditioner fixed. It cost R1,500 and gets the temperature down to around 35 degrees. Stupid repairman. Fucking thief. If one more smart bastard says ‘Hot enough for you today?’ I’m going to fucking throttle him. Fucking heat! By the time I get to work, the car radiator is boiling over, my fucking clothes are soaking fucking wet and I smell like baked cat. Fucking place is the end of the Earth.
**November 9:** Tried to run some errands after work, wore shorts, and sat on the black leather upholstery in my car. I thought my fucking backside was on fire. I lost 2 layers of flesh, all the hair on the backs of my legs and off my fucking behind. Now the car smells like burnt hair, fried bum and baked cat. The Weather report might as well be a fucking recording – hot and sunny. Hot and sunny, Hot and fucking sunny. It’s been too hot to do anything for 2 bleeding months and the weatherman says it might really warm up next week. Fuck!!
**November 15:** Doesn’t it ever rain in this darn place? Water restrictions will be next, so my R5,000 worth of palms might just dry up and blow into the fucking pool. The only things that thrive in this hell-hole are the fucking flies. You don’t dare open your mouth for fear of swallowing half a dozen of the little buzzards!
**November 20:** Welcome to HELL! It got to 45 degrees today. Now the air conditioner is gone in my car. The repair man came to fix it and said, ‘Hot enough for you today?’ I wanted to shove the car up his backside. Anyway, had to spend the R2,500 of the mortgage payment to bail me out of jail for assaulting the stupid fool. Fucking PHALABORWA! What kind of sick, demented idiot would want to live here!
**December 1:** WHAT!!!! The FIRST day of Summer!!!!
You are fucking kidding me, right?