Cape Town - Construction work at the Luyolo Housing development in Gugulethu has once again been halted after a contractor downed tools due to extortion and intimidation.
This follows an incident last Tuesday, when an unspecified number of gun-wielding men randomly fired shots at four security guards on the construction site while they were sitting in the guard room.
This is not the first time that the project, which is one of the three sites (Tambo Village and Gxagxa) of the Airport Precinct Infill Projects has experienced construction delays.
Two separate shooting incidents earlier this year left two workers with gunshot wounds. The first incident happened on February 28 at the Tambo Village site, which resulted in an imposed site closure for a week. There was another incident on March 17, which led to an 11-week halt.
The Gugulethu Development Forum had previously raised concerns over the delays of the project, saying it would harm the beneficiaries. It also urged human settlements MEC Tertuis Simmers to meet with the community before construction resumed.
The project, for which the department had initially budgeted R248 million, commenced in September 2020 and is expected to yield 729 housing opportunities by February 2025.
The beneficiaries of this project will be backyarders from Gugulethu, Manenberg and New Rest, and residents from Gxagxa and Lusaka informal settlements.
The human settlements department said the safety of workers on site was paramount, thus construction on site had again came to halt.
While the department could not specify losses incurred, it said the losses were largely linked to the delay in the project’s completion.
Department of human settlements communications deputy director, Muneera Allie, said the department had been working closely with police to find solutions to the continuing problem.
Allie said the department, through its contractors, had previously arranged for additional security on site following the previous crime incidents.
She said the department would continue to work closely with police, as well as all stakeholders linked to the project to find solutions so that construction work could continue.
Police spokesperson Frederick van Wyk said Gugulethu police were investigating four counts of attempted murder. He said no arrests had been made.