| Work Detail |
Durban - The controversial construction company Gralio Precast, alleged to have done shoddy work on numerous low-cost housing projects, continues to receive multimillion-rand construction tenders from the eThekwini Municipality. The company is run by alleged ANC benefactor and Durban developer Jay Singh. Singh’s son, Ravi Jagadasan, is its director, but Singh admitted at a Department of Labour inquiry into the collapse of the Tongaat Mall that he was more hands-on. A report tabled at the city’s executive committee (Exco) meeting on Tuesday revealed that in May this year Gralio was awarded a R17.2 million tender to build 400 top-structure units in the Emalangeni phase 3 housing project in wards six and seven, near Hammarsdale. The contract participation goals for the tender were 50% of local labour living in the two wards. The tender was awarded in terms of section 5 of the Supply Chain Management Regulations because the contract value was more than R10 million. The report recommended that city manager Sipho Nzuza reserve the right to investigate the awards with a view to take disciplinary, criminal and recovery actions where wilful and negligent violation of the supply chain management policies and Municipal Finance Management Act provisions were observed. Gralio was linked to alleged shoddy workmanship in a number of projects, including the R208m Tongaat Mall development, which collapsed in 2013, killing two people and injuring 29 others. It was also involved in the construction of housing units in the Cornubia development. Former Durban mayor James Nxumalo said yesterday that after the mall disaster, construction contracts to companies were reviewed. “By the time I left office no new tenders were awarded to the company as red flags were raised after the mall collapse. That collapse was a concern, so it would not have made sense to continue awarding business to a company which was behind the disaster. Any tender given after I left office would be new,” Nxumalo said. The National Home Builders Registration Council confirmed that Gralio was registered with them “way before” the mall disaster. However, the Daily News could not immediately establish the grade the company should be operating under. In May 2016, Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant reportedly said the department’s report into the collapse would be handed to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA). The department’s investigation found contraventions of the Occupational and Safety Act and construction regulations. Piles for some of the columns had been overloaded and under-designed, and the poor construction of a particular beam (beam 7) had triggered the collapse. Lack of supervision and failure to appoint a competent supervisor were also cited. Further, the department found there was a lack of knowledge to build the complex structure. Cement used on the mall was substandard. It was imported from Pakistan and did not meet the South African Bureau of Standards’ requirements. Also found was the failure to work from architect’s drawings. Yesterday, Teboho Thejane, the department’s spokesperson, said the matter was now in the NPA’s hands. “As soon as section 32 was conducted (the assessment and investigation into the collapse), a report was officially handed over to the NPA for a decision (to prosecute or not). This matter is therefore closed on our side and as for injuries on duty, the compensation fund kicked in immediately,” Thejane said. The Sunday Tribune, Daily News’s sister paper, reported last year that the victims of the disaster were still in the dark about what had led to the collapse of the mall. Advocate Moipone Noko, the Provincial Director of Public Prosecutions, could not be reached for comment at the time of publication. City manager Sipho Nzuza said: “I suppose the company met all the requirements. In other words, they were responsive to the tender. I don’t get involved with tender processes until the last step where I’m the final signatory and this is the stage which assumes all necessary steps were met and the tender was compliant. This is my assumption.” |
