Sydney Masinga
Bethal - Thirty-six RDP houses that collapsed during heavy storms in Emzinoni township outside Bethal in January were built with mortar that was too weak.
Independent tests indicate that in some instances, one bag of cement was mixed with nearly 20 wheelbarrows of sand, instead of with three wheelbarrows of sand as per recommended building standards.
Spokesperson for the Mpumalanga Department of Local Government and Housing, Simphiwe Kunene, said on Friday that if the contractor was found to have taken shortcuts on the R17m housing project, legal steps would be taken.
"We used a qualified contractor to build those houses and he was required to follow strict building specifications," said Kunene.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) took samples of the rubble to Soillab in Trichardt for an independent analysis.
A copy of the results were sent to local government and housing MEC Candith Mashego-Dlamini on Wednesday and indicate that the cement/sand ratio was up to seven times weaker than required.
Kunene said the department would conduct its own investigation and tests.
The contractor, Golden Nest International, is a Chinese-based company and was given a R17m contract in 1998 to build the RDP houses. The project was completed in 2002.
The biggest problem - Why give a Chinese firm contract to build houses in SA? What about job creation? Bad quality and not in the country?