The N11 Community Residential Units (CRU) in Arbor Park serve as a beacon of hope for many Newcastle residents, the project providing hope for affordable housing. However, work at the site has come to a complete halt.
This occurred after angry community members blockaded the entrance on Monday morning, 29 July 2024, preventing contractors from entering and continuing their work.
Discussing their cause, Thabang Thanjekwayo said that when the project initially began, residents were informed that job opportunities would be available for those living in the area. This work, he noted, included subcontracting tasks such as steelwork, painting, tiling, and roofing. However, as the project nears completion, the management is being accused of bypassing local workers in favour of their own subcontractors.
To add further frustration, Thanjekwayo revealed that around ten local students from Newcastle-based colleges were allegedly being used for free labour. He claimed these students were sent to work at the site, performing the necessary subcontractor tasks alongside the management’s contractors.
“The management is subcontracting the project for their own benefit, and residents in the area are now losing out on job opportunities. We have attempted to reach out to the management to resolve the matter, but have received no joy and we will now keep the site closed until the necessary departments get involved,” emphasised Thanjekwayo.
With work at the N11 CRU halted community members believe that the Department of Human Settlements needed to step in and address the issue.
“To date, only a few locals have been brought in to do the subcontractor work. If given any work, it will be for one unit, whereas the contractors will do the remaining work and this is not what was agreed upon,” noted another angry resident, who stressed that the work among local beneficiaries was meant to enhance the local economy and secure employment opportunities for unemployed contractors.
It should be noted that the N11 CRU in Arbor Park is set to transform Arbor Park and Newcastle as a whole. The project will include 53 residential blocks and 540 units, one admin office, five guard houses, and four refuse buildings.
Additionally, eight units were officially handed over to beneficiaries in May 2024, with the Department of Public Works and Human Settlements highlighting that, together with the Hospital Street Social Housing Project in Newcastle, the N11 CRU Project provided tangible proof of the Department’s commitment to expanding affordable rental housing beyond urban centres to fulfil its mission to provide housing, security, and comfort for all.
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With the project now at a standstill, Newcastillian News reached out to the Department of Human Settlements for an official comment on the developments. While no official comment could be provided at the time of publication, the Department noted it would be looking into the matter.
As the N11 CRU project plays a crucial role in Newcastle’s progression, Newcastillian News will keep our readers updated on any further developments.
What are your thoughts on the above? Share your views in the comment section below.
3 Responses
The issuea raised are understandable…but why wait until the project is nearly completed?
Should it not rather have been addressed earlier? Now it will have very little impact.
Local branch of the famed KZN Construction Mafia…………?
Another big construction project in 2023 at a site near the airport also ran into trouble when the Local Business Forums demanded this, that and the other for their “members”, in exchange for a handsome “facilitators fee”
I was a subcontractor contractor at N11, I was subcontracting under the electricity and plumbing department. What is being said by Thanjekwayo is true, my company was dismissed becasue of I was fighting for the truth that the management is not doing their work properly and they also have their companies on site which are subcontracting. Their companies are doing more of the jobs and they are the ones who are being getting big payments. That project is not for the community, it’s for them to benefit as management and friends. I was unfairly dismissed and the higher management never knew about this and also I still have the letter that states unreasonable things about my company dismissal. They even hide material for other subcontractors only to be given to their workers to benefit their companies in order to invoice big amounts. There is a lot going on in that site, the entire management should be fired so that project should be finished and be a success.