GARDEN ROUTE NEWS - Civils 2000 has been appointed to complete the first phase of development of the Garden Route regional waste management facility at PetroSA, which is now almost two years behind schedule.
According to Herman Pieters, head of communications of the Garden Route District Municipality (GRDM), which is administering the project, the new contractor should start during February and is expected to complete the first phase (Cell 1A) before the end of the next financial year, June 2027. The contract cost is R109m.
The project was launched in June 2023, with the initial deadline for completion of Cell 1A set at 1 February 2024, but the initial contractor fell so far behind that the date was extended to March 2025. By the end of June 2025, however, the GRDM cancelled the contract due to non-performance.
Part of the financing resources is a loan agreement to the amount of R278.25m, signed between GRDM and Standard Bank in July 2023.
According to Pieters, the original budget for the project was R320m. Of this, R83m was spent during the initial contractor’s time on site. The GRDM previously stated there was no wasteful expenditure as the money paid out thus far had been for work completed and signed off by Zutari, the consulting engineers on the project.
Pieters said the investigation into the project’s administration, carried out by a team from the Auditor-General, contributed to a clean audit for the municipality.
He said a whole new tender process will be started for Cell 1B (phase 2) of the project, and therefore, at this stage, the cost of its development has not been determined. This phase could include a hazardous waste component.
Cell 1A will be adequate for five years of household waste from George, Knysna, Mossel Bay and Bitou, municipalities that are currently transporting a total of about 10 000 tonnes of household waste monthly to the PetroSA landfill. The GRDM’s agreement for temporary use of this landfill site came to an end in February 2024. Since then, a month-to-month extension of the contract has been in place until such time as Cell 1A is completed.
“There are no alternative waste disposal sites for the participating municipalities. The closure of the PetroSA landfill site prior to the regional site being operational would result in an environmental and health disaster,” said Pieters.
“The PetroSA landfill site has reached full capacity. However, PetroSA and the licensing authorities have been willing to assist, and a further height extension has been approved to ensure continued waste disposal until the regional site is operational.
"The delay has resulted in further pressure and time constraints for GRDM to complete phase 1 of the project.”
In July 2025, it transpired at a council meeting that efforts were under way to call up a performance guarantee of R31.998m from a financial institution that had provided it to the GRDM on behalf of the initial contractor. When asked about the progress in this regard, Pieters said the matter is sub judice.
George Herald previously reported that the George Municipality had concerns about the impact the development of the regional site had on removal tariffs for ratepayers. At the time, the acting municipal manager, Lauren Waring, said there was no guarantee that refuse removal rates would not be affected going forward.
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