Third Special Report

Covid-19municipal relief funding (CMRF) 49 eThekwini Metro We identified that some toilet doors at themunicipality’s Jewish Club and Block AK shelters were broken and could not lock. In addition, the flooring provided did not comply with South African National Standards (SANS) requirements, as we noted bare soil at both shelters with no constructed flooring. The flooring was also not prepared or levelled. Further, the stormwater disposal did not comply with SANS requirements or the CSIR’s Guidelines for human settlement planning and design dealing with stormwater management. . Toilet door not lockable/broken at AK Block (left); Unprepared natural ground floor where residents slept at Jewish club (right). Furthermore, a physical site verification conducted on 16 February 2021 for the provision of water tanks at themunicipality established that a supplier (with a contract value of R2 200 000 and with no suitable Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) grading) did not install the water tanks as specified in the plans. The drawing specifications required each tank to have five taps, a supporting stand and a drain. We identified defects including seven water tanks that were not in service; five tanks that had no taps; four tanks that had one tap each; five tanks that had two taps each; and one tank that had been removed (i.e. was not found). This indicates that that themunicipality paid for goods and services that were inferior and/or not delivered. Recommendation When addressing poor-quality workmanship, municipalities should implement accepted project management principles for refurbishment work to ensure that the work is adequately managed andmonitored within the project management elements of time, cost and quality. As part of project management, municipalities should also implement proper record keeping practices and regularly monitor projects to ensure that the structures erected are of good quality and that contractors do not leave projects uncompleted. Furthermore, municipalities should ensure that floors of shelters comply with SANS 10400 and are designed according to the regulations, and should conduct detailed inspections of all sites to ensure that proper stormwater drainage is in place at the sites in accordance with SANS 10400 and CSIR requirements. Proper disaster management plans also should be in place to allow themunicipalities to conform to proper safety standards in the event of an emergency. If, due to poor quality workmanship, municipalities suffer losses, physical verifications of all installed items (e.g. water tanks) should be conducted to determine the extent of the loss for the service provided, and the service provider should be engaged to allow remedial action to occur, where possible.