The long-awaited half a billion rands road expansion between Thula Thula and Empangeni in northern KwaZulu-Natal has been indefinitely halted after the Provincial Department of Transport, led by MEC Siboniso Duma, failed to pay the contractor.
The contractor, took the decision after going for months without being paid. This despite submitting all invoices and promised it was told that it would be paid.
Letter of suspension
The suspension of the work on site is contained in a letter obtained by Sunday World. The letter was written by Vuyolwethu Xulu, the project’s community liaison officer (Clo). It is dated May 5 2025.
The letter was directed to the project liaison committee and all employees working on the expansion. The project has been shrouded by controversy from day one as its cost is suspicious. This is considering that it’s only for a 10km road, yet it cost over R500-million.
Contractor’s cash flow severely impacted
“The suspension is necessitated by the delayed payment of IPC 7. This was submitted to the Department of Transport on 25 February 2025 and remains outstanding. The delay has severely impacted the main contractor’s cash flow. This is making it impossible to continue operations or meet financial obligations to pay suppliers and SMMEs,” reads the letter.
Despite work on site being suspended, Xulu said traffic congestion mitigation measures would remain in place until further notice. This while the contractor is in talks with the department over the outstanding monies.
Detours to remain while talks continue
“While construction is suspended, we wish to assure that: Bypasses and detours will remain operational. They will be actively maintained by a dedicated team to ensure minimal disruption to public traffic.
“We are engaging with the Department of Transport to expedite payment. And we will notify all stakeholders immediately upon resolution,” Xulu said in the letter.
The department joins its counterparts in the health and education departments in failing to pay service providers. This is after depleting its funds before a new financial year kicks in.
The Department of Health owes service providers R1,7-billion. While its education counterpart owes R1,6-billion. And the school feeding scheme may collapse due to non-payment.
Correction: In the initial story, Sunday World had mistaken R34 and P34 road construction projects. The projects’ specifications are almost identical, and the confusion stems from our investigation on R34 early this year. The R34 project is the one between Tula Tula and Empangeni, and has since stalled. We also mentioned Construction firm Tefla Group erroneously in the article. Tefla Group is not involved in the R34 construction project. Sunday World would like to apologise to the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport and Tefla Group for the errors and the embarrassment they may have caused
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