NCOP calls for blacklisting of non-performing contractors in the Free State

The National Council of Provinces (NCOP) oversight visit in the Free State has found that more projects are being abandoned by contractors.

This led the committee’s chairperson, Bheki Radebe, to call for the urgent blacklisting of non-performing contractors.

The visit this week revealed two unfinished Regional Bulk Infrastructure Grant (RBIG) projects in the Nketoana Local Municipality.

Two major projects, the construction of a 3ML reservoir in Petrus Steyn and the upgrade of the raw water and high-lift pump stations in Reitz, were terminated after contractors failed to complete the work.

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Blacklisting of non-performing contractors

Radebe said these contractors continue to cripple struggling municipalities. Nketoana municipality, through its legal representatives, is currently pursuing the recovery of funds, with the incomplete projects having cost approximately R42 million to date.

He added that it is unacceptable for incompetent companies to be appointed for critical infrastructure projects only for them to abandon the work and later claim financial difficulty.

He urged the municipality to “leave no stone unturned” in recovering state funds and to ensure that such companies are blacklisted from future government contracts.

More efforts to be made

Speaking about measures to blacklist non-performing contractors, Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure Dean Macpherson said professionalisation programmes are being drafted and enforcement will take place “through restriction committees” that will soon be established across all spheres of government and in all provinces.

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Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) CEO Bongani Dladla said the number of projects that are incomplete and delayed is a challenge – and that it emerged during a CIDB analysis with the Auditor-General that as many as 70% of public projects are not considered successful in that they were delayed or had significant overruns or there were compromises around quality.

It is unclear why the Central Supplier Database at National Treasury, which allows for blacklisting of suppliers, has not been able to deal with this problem.

Limpopo not blacklisting failed contractors

Limpopo recently came under fire for not blacklisting non-performing contractors. It was found that Limpopo public works, roads and infrastructure has continued to make appoint incompetent contractors who previously failed to complete projects on time.

MEC Ernest Rachoene conceded that poor-performing contractors appointed by Roads Agency Limpopo (RAL) had not been blacklisted for failing to do their job properly.

“Since the establishment of the panel of preferred contractors in the 2020-21 financial year, 601 contractors and consultants have been appointed, but 182 failed to meet the deadline,” he said.

Only one contractor was terminated for poor performance, while no action was taken against the failures of the 181 other companies, as they continued to do business with the government, he said.

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