R20m for clinic's hole

FAILS: FLAWED DESIGN ALSO COSTS HEALTH DEPARTMENT R200M >>> Decade later patients only have a torn canvas.

- Sipho Mabena

After 10 years and R20 million, all that exists of the Boitumelo Community Health Centre in Emfuleni is a concreted hole in the ground, an incomplete boundary wall and a patch of excavated soil.

This is only the tip of the iceberg of Gauteng's crumbling and failing health infrastructure.

Shoddy engineering consultants not only caused major delays to the R700 million Johannesburg forensic laboratory, but their flawed designs also cost the Gauteng department of health a staggering R200 million.

According to the department, the consultants' poor performance led to years of delays after the department of infrastructure development terminated the contract and appointed new consultants.

Their designs were not only technically incorrect, but also omitted significant portions of the project scope, leading to further cost overruns and missed deadlines.

The department has since embarked on a process to claw back funds from the consultants.