New R168 Million School for Blind Learners Delayed

Construction of new buildings for the Rivoni School for Blind in Limpopo has been delayed yet again. The main contractor building the R168-million school has just gone into business rescue.

• Learning and teaching activities at Rivoni School for the Blind in Njakanjaka village, Limpopo will have to continue with dilapidated prefab buildings and mobile toilets.
• The main contractor building the R168-million school has just gone into business rescue.
• The school is one of only six in Limpopo catering to visually impaired and blind learners.
• Despite these challenges, the school has maintained its 100% matric pass rate, cementing its status as one of Limpopo’s top-performing schools.

The completion of a R168-million school for blind learners in Njakanjaka village, Limpopo, has been delayed yet again.

The main contractor, Clear Choice Builders (CCB), has been placed under business rescue. This means learning and teaching activities at Rivoni School for the Blind will have to continue under difficult conditions in dilapidated prefabricated buildings and learners will have to use mobile toilets. The school is one of only six in Limpopo catering to visually impaired and blind learners.

On Wednesday, Mike Maringa, spokesperson for the Limpopo Department of Basic Education, confirmed that subcontractors have since been paid for work to resume.

The tender for the new school was awarded to CCB in June 2021, with an initial completion deadline of 17 June 2024. This followed protests in 2019, when learners and parents demanded that the Limpopo Department of Education fix the school’s poor infrastructure.

The new school is to include staff offices, hostels, houses for hostel managers, a recreational area, a dining hall, kitchen, administration block, two classroom blocks with 17 classrooms, two toilet blocks, and a workshop and laboratory.

But the construction of the school’s new building has been marred by delays mostly due to the non-payment of workers and contractors. In addition, workers have downed tools several times since 2022 over wage disputes.

In August, we reported that the new school was nearly ready after CCB managing director Sipho Manonga claimed that the project was 90% done. At the time he said the school would be done by December. He had said that CCB had asked for an extension and expected the school to be completed by March this year. Manonga declined to answer further questions, referring us to the Independent Development Trust (IDT).

On Wednesday, he confirmed to GroundUp that payments had indeed been processed. He added that they are in talks with the client about a “recovery program that ensures the project remains on track while upholding the highest standards of quality and efficiency”.

On 8 November 2024, workers downed tools again, claiming they had not been paid.

When GroundUp visited the site on 14 January, we only saw a handful of workers and the site was waterlogged and overgrown with bush. Workers said they had gone unpaid for months and many workers didn’t return to the site this year because they had given up on getting their money.

“It seems like it’s difficult for the contractor to pay us. Some of us came from other provinces hoping to earn a living, but the contractor repeatedly made empty promises,” said one worker.

Vicky Muvhali, chairperson of the project steering committee, said subcontractors had not been paid for weeks until payment was finally made last week. “Many local workers, coming from disadvantaged backgrounds, have had to borrow money for transport,” he said.

IDT spokesperson Phasha Makgolane told GroundUp that CCB’s financial matters are now being managed by a business rescue practitioner.

He said delays were also partly due to budget cuts from the National Treasury. “Outstanding work, including finishes, external works, and the addition of an Eye Clinic, requires a contract extension,” he said. He said that in November, IDT had asked workers to submit records of the amounts owed by 29 November to quantify the debts. But no documents were submitted, he said.

Makgolane said the workers and subcontractors met CCB and agreed on a payment plan, which IDT was not involved in. Whether CCB will complete the Eye Clinic and remaining work depends on the outcome of the business rescue process, he said. “There is a budget for the extension of works on-site,” Makgolane said.

Despite these challenges, Rivoni School for the Blind has maintained its 100% matric pass rate, cementing its status as one of Limpopo’s top-performing schools.

CCB in hot water

This is not the first time CCB has faced difficulties completing construction projects. The R218-million tender to build a state-of-the-art clinic in Mkhondo Local Municipality, Mpumalanga, has also been marred by setbacks. Foster Mohale, spokesperson for the national Department of Health, told GroundUp that the contract was terminated in September 2024 due to continued poor performance and failure to complete the work.

“The initial completion date was 3 October 2022, and it was subsequently revised to March 2024,” Mohale said.

According to Mohale, the province initially appointed the contractors during the planning phase but ceded these contracts to the national Department of Health.

“The termination was based on the contractor’s continued failure to complete the project. CCB did not pay subcontractors, causing unrest, work stoppages, and continuous delays,” Mohale said.

With regard to the Mkhondo clinic project, Manonga said that the project faced unforeseen circumstances which led to its temporary suspension. “We are actively engaged in discussions with the Development Bank of Southern Africa to negotiate the reinstatement and resumption of the project,” he said.

This article has been co-published with the Limpopo Mirror.

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