Elderly citizens remain in limbo as metro makes trail of broken promises
Several good corporate citizens had pledged to assist the government to improve the lives of the residents, but the metro reportedly turned down the offers.
Despite multiple promises the municipality has been making since 2017, the elderly people at Andries Scribante Haven in Cason are still without lifts to get to and from their flats in the multi-storey building.
Their lifts have been out of order for almost three years now.
The delays in replacing the damaged lifts mean large numbers of elderly residents on crutches, in wheelchairs, with walkers and with health problems are forced to suffer a great deal of physical discomfort and pain as they walk up and down the flights of stairs at the metro-owned facility for the elderly.
It was also brought to the attention of this publication that even emergency medical services struggle to attend to or remove sick people from the top floor to take them to hospital.
Ward 32 councillor Marius de Vos and concerned citizens have been pleading with the metro to address the complaints, but they feel that their pleas for help fall on deaf ears.
Apart from the broken lifts, residents are also forced to contend with the leaking ceilings, overflowing rubbish skip, dysfunctional geysers and blocked drains at the centre.
- Trail of broken promises
The Advertiser first reported on the situation at Scribante in two separate articles published on June 23 and October 27, 2017.
At the time, one of the lifts had reportedly been out of order for about two months, while the other had not been working for about two years.
Late in 2017, the Ekurhuleni metro said it was fast-tracking the process of appointing a contractor to repair the lifts at the facility.
“We are following a shortened supply-chain management process that is aimed at ensuring that by end of November a contractor is appointed so as to commence with the project,” said metro spokesperson Themba Gadebe.
Nothing happened with regard to the lifts and on February 22, 2018, the Advertiser reported that de Vos had asked the project manager Phumzile Nyatlo when the lifts would be replaced.
In her response, the project manager reportedly told de Vos that the tender had been approved and that the city manager had to attach her signature in order to appoint the contractors.
The process of appointing contractors was expected to be concluded before the end of February 2018, and the contractor was due to be on site in the first week of March 2018.
Again on May 4, 2018, the Advertiser reported that Phumzile Naytlo had told the ward councillor that there was a small issue with variation works and that the contractors would only start work at the establishment on May 4.
On May 31, 2018, this publication ran another story about the commencement of work on the broken lifts, which was said to have begun on May 29. Reggie Ramovha from Mikano Consulting and Project Management reportedly said the new lifts would be replaced entirely as the lifts were so old that parts for them were not being manufactured anymore.
Ramovha said the new lifts were coming from China and added that the project might possibly only be finished in September 2018 as the lifts could be delayed at customs.
On September 13, 2018, it was reported that, despite previous promises by the project manager that the lifts would arrive by end of August, the lifts would only arrive at the end of October and installations were expected to be completed by mid-December 2018.
This, however, did not happen, and de Vos wrote a letter to the city manager, Imogen Mashazi, expressing his concerns about the failed delivery of the lifts.
In response, de Vos was told that the delivery of the lifts was being delayed due to final payment to the suppliers.
The Advertiser is still awaiting comment from the metro.
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Promises of lifts installed at Scribante apparently all smoke and mirrors
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