Durban – Taxpayers in the Durban CBD say they smell a rat, following an announcement by the eThekwini Municipality that it had concluded an upgrade on Anton Lembede (Smith) Street.
While the municipality said the upgrade – which included extending the pavement, new bins and billboards – was complete, stakeholders in the area say there was supposed to be much more than that.
According to a source who asked not to be named, it is believed that the project was supposed to have included new bus stops, lock-up facilities for street vendors as well as a mobile police station.
The project was also supposed to include a new set of toilets along Anton Lembede Street.
The source said all this information was revealed during a meeting held on June 3, 2021.
The meeting included several stakeholders on Anton Lembede Street, as well as municipal representatives and a contracting company, Siza Architects.
A representative from Siza Architects presented the artist's impressions of what the project was going to look like upon completion. This presentation took place in a virtual meeting.
Siza Architects has also been contacted and IOL is awaiting their response.
The source said they were told the project would cost R15m.
“I was looking at the city’s Facebook page and they were touting this new project they completed, but I said to myself what do you mean completed because there’s only a new pavement.
“They called us stakeholders in for a meeting because obviously the construction was going to affect our businesses. They presented to us all these wonderful images of what the place would look like. A company called Siza Architects presented it to us.
“This meeting took place on the 3rd of June, 2021. At the meeting, they said toilets will be installed and a satellite police station somewhere between Field and Gardiner Street. There were also supposed to be bus stops,” the source said.
“They said the budget for the project was R15 million.”
Rinaldo Captain, of the Bayside UIP (Urban Improvement Project) said he was part of the meeting that took place last year.
UIP is an organisation aimed at improving functionality in and around the CBD.
“They put on a presentation last year where they basically told us about the project. One of the things was the widening of the walkway. We raised reservations with them about the project, one of which being that a new walkway was not going to solve the problems in the city.
“They said new bus stops will be created and each bus stop will have a kiosk on either side of it. That was not done.
“They also mentioned that a satellite police station with a set of toilets would be installed. But the toilets were not meant for the public,” Captain said.
IOL also contacted Absa, who has a branch in the area in Smith Street that was subject to the upgrade.
“Absa is aware of the planned project in Smith Street, where one of our branches is located. We welcome any plans to upgrade municipal infrastructure. Unfortunately it would not be appropriate for Absa to comment on the status, cost of any other elements of the municipal project as we are not involved in the project,” Absa said.
On August 3, the city announced that it had completed the upgrade on Anton Lembede Street.
IOL asked Khuzwayo why the bus stop, satellite police station and vendor lock-up facilities had not been installed.
“The actual work executed needed to be in line with the approved budget. The original plans had to be revisited based on the outcome of the value engineering exercise completed and taking into account the municipality’s weak financial position attributed to Covid-19, July 2021 unrest and 2022 floods.
“The exercise conducted revealed unknown underground engineering services that would have clashed with the Clusters (the design of which consisted of vendor stations, lock-up facilities, running water, satellite metro police station and ablution facilities). These underground existing services were considered too costly and time-consuming to relocate and would have made the installation of the vendors unaffordable given the municipality’s weak financial position,” she said.
IOL also asked for the financial statements for the project but Khuzwayo said these would be ready after they had been approved by the council.
Khuzwayo confirmed that the upgrade on Anton Lembede Street cost “approximately R15m” to complete.
IOL