A R146m Covid-19 project at Kopanong Hospital in Vereeniging remains incomplete and abandoned four years after construction began, with the government now scrambling to find alternative uses for the deserted building; a concrete skeleton minus roofing, with walls exposed to the weather and overgrown vegetation taking over the site.
News24 reports that one contractor received more than R118m for this incomplete project, which was originally intended to provide 300 ICU beds using Alternative Building Technology, but which failed to ever become operational.
Gauteng Department of Infrastructure Development spokesperson Theo Nkonki said the main contractor was Condocor (Pty) Ltd, with Concor Construction later appointed to manage termination-related processes after Condocor’s “non-performance”.
Concor, like Condocor, was also appointed as the main contractor to design and construct a 300-bed ICU facility at Jubilee Hospital in Hammanskraal, north of Pretoria, in 2020.
Both companies formed part of the provincial government’s attempts to construct four Covid-19 “field intensive care” hospitals (at Kopanong, Jubilee and two other hospitals) at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Condocor received R118.5m for work done up to the termination date. Concor Construction was paid R27.4m “to finalise contractual obligations”.
There is nothing functional to show for this R146m, admits Nkonki, adding that after termination, a final account that was prepared showed there was still R48.7m in additional costs due to incomplete work.
The issue has escalated into a legal dispute, with Condocor challenging their dismissal through adjudication and taking the case to the High Court.
The department is opposing the court application.
‘Illegal’
Condocor was awarded the R220m contract in July 2020, but the Department of Infrastructure Development terminated it on 15 January 2021, with the company’s sole owner, Abel Foka Sepogwane, telling City Press this was an “illegal termination of the contract”, hence his legal action.
Condocor is claiming more than R92m in damages:
- R13.2m for lost profits on the remaining work;
- R8.9m for completed work not certified for payment;
- R12.3m for materials delivered on site;
- R5.8m for head office overheads due to delays; and
- R3.1m for reversal of penalty damages.
According to court papers, government argued that Condocor failed to deliver the first 104 ICU beds by 30 September 2020, complete the remaining 196 ICU beds by 30 October 2020, and remedy these breaches within the contractual timeframe.
Sepogwane said the six month Covid-19 emergency hospital timeline was unrealistic after site inspections, and that his proposal had “clearly included disclaimers” warning that “underlying bulk services” and other site issues “would impact the construction period and costs”.
Condocor argues the delays were caused by factors beyond their control, including adverse soil conditions discovered during construction, delays in approving compensation events by the project manager, late approval of bulk electrical upgrades, and the government’s failure to process extension of time applications properly.
The site had revealed extensive underground services requiring careful rerouting and redirection before construction could proceed, work “which was not anticipated in the original scope”.
Structural integrity assessment
Concor’s senior corporate affairs manager Donique de Figueiredo confirmed that in May 2021, the company was “contracted to complete the partially constructed Kopanong facility previously undertaken by Condocor”.
While it began “condition assessments and remediation proposals for existing structures” in July 2021, the contract was terminated by the department a year later – on 17 August 2022 – due to “the end of the national State of Disaster and community unrest from Condocor’s payment disputes”.
“Concor invoked dispute resolution procedures in accordance with contractual provisions on the projects (adjudication), after the (department’s) non-payment of recognised compensation events,” De Figueiredo said, adding that the adjudicators ruled in Concor’s favour.
Concor subsequently approached the courts for relief, to enforce the adjudicators’ determinations following non-adherence by the department. The court upheld Concor’s claim and Concor was compensated in line with the adjudicators’ ruling.
But Nkonki said the R27m was paid to Concor for a court-ordered adjudication award, not for construction work.
The Health Department’s Philani Mhlungu confirmed it has taken back control from the Infrastructure Department, and is appointing the Development Bank of SA as an implementing agent for the project, and was planning “to repurpose the buildings”.
However, given the deteriorating state of the facility over several years, it had been forced to assess whether the structures can be salvaged, it added.
“The department appointed structural engineers to confirm the structural integrity of the building …and the structures will be completed and repurposed to accommodate the Sedibeng District (Municipality) offices as part of the broader repurposing plan.”
“The plan is complete; a new contractor will be appointed before the end of January 2026. The related costs will be provided once the new contractor has assessed the site and confirmed the new scope of work.”
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
DA slams wasted R115m spent on unfinished hospital wards
Gauteng’s ‘new’ R1.2bn Covid ICU hospitals lie abandoned and unfinished
DA: Gauteng Health criticised for poor planning of Covid infrastructure