{"id":294331,"date":"2025-11-13T05:05:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-13T03:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/?p=294331"},"modified":"2025-11-13T07:22:03","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T05:22:03","slug":"readers-letter-contractor-rewarded-for-shoddy-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/readers-letter-contractor-rewarded-for-shoddy-work\/","title":{"rendered":"Reader&#8217;s letter: &#8216;Contractor rewarded for shoddy work?&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>This photo of the caving-in walkway opposite Paul Roos Gymnasium was taken recently. It had been repaired last year after the storm had assaulted the embankment it abuts.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It is absolutely atrocious that the contractor did not stabilise the paving that was supposed to last for the next 20 years, and is now also caving in after just one year. The surface isn&#8217;t even level, with a very visible hump in the middle.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"576\" height=\"1024\" data-attachment-id=\"294332\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/readers-letter-contractor-rewarded-for-shoddy-work\/walkways_17073\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/walkways_17073-e1763010976607.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"675,1200\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"walkways_17073\" data-image-description=\"&lt;p&gt;The walkway in Suidwal Road.&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;The walkway in Suidwal Road.&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/walkways_17073-e1763010976607-576x1024.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/walkways_17073-e1763010976607-576x1024.jpg\" alt=\"The walkway in Suidwal Road.\" class=\"wp-image-294332\" srcset=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/walkways_17073-e1763010976607-576x1024.jpg 576w, https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/walkways_17073-e1763010976607-169x300.jpg 169w, https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/walkways_17073-e1763010976607.jpg 675w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 576px) 100vw, 576px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The walkway in Suidwal Road.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>I can&#8217;t believe the Engineering Department didn&#8217;t set prescriptive parameters to be met and, more damningly, final inspection clearly was not done, or else such structural weaknesses would have been picked up. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Is this how our municipality functions now? Accepting shoddy workmanship as other municipalities do?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The question is whether the contractor will be called back to snag the whole area, or has he long since taken the money and run? And, will citizens have to pay for someone else to come around to stabilise the area and redo the section? \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It is clear that at least 10 m will have to be recompacted and repaved. And all this in the middle of the Stellenbosch Art Mile the municipality is so proud of and has spent millions promoting.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Francois Bossert, EMAIL<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Eikestadnuus reader Francois Bossert questions the quality of workmanship of paving laid along Suidwal Road in Stellenbosch, claiming a year after its completion, the pedestrian walkways are already caving-in.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":294332,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_linkdex":"68","_yoast_wpseo_content_score":"60","_yoast_wpseo_inclusive_language_score":"90","_yoast_wpseo_is_cornerstone":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-title":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-description":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-image":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-image-id":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-title":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-description":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-image":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-image-id":"","newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","_crsspst_to_novanewscoza":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozabloemnewsexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozacityvision":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozadistrictmailhelderberg":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozahermanustimes":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozakomani-karoo":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozakougaexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozamthathaexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozanoordkaapbulletin":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozapaarlpost":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozapeexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozapeoplespost":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaswartlandgazette":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozatygerburger":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaudexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozavistanews":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozavrystaatkroon":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaweskusnuus":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaweslander":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaworcesterstandard":false,"_EventAllDay":"","_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":"","_EventShowMapLink":"","_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":"","_EventVenueID":"","_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":"","_VenueShowMapLink":"","_application":"","_batch_id":"","_company_name":"","_company_tagline":"","_company_twitter":"","_company_video":"","_company_website":"","_custom_id":"","_EventDuration":"","_EventOrigin":"","_EventTimezoneAbbr":"","_featured":"","_filled":"","_job_expires":"","_job_location":"","_media_credit":"","_media_credit_url":"","_menu_item_menu_item_parent":"","_menu_item_object":"","_menu_item_object_id":"","_menu_item_target":"","_menu_item_type":"","_menu_item_url":"","_menu_item_xfn":"","_navis_media_can_distribute":"","_navis_media_credit_org":"","_OrganizerOrigin":"","_provider":"","_pum_built_in":"","_pum_default_theme":"","_pum_form_conversion_count":"","_remote_id":"","_remote_name":"","_remote_position":"","_report_frequency":"","_report_reference_dates":"","_send_attempts":"","_site_id":"","_sitemap_exclude":"","_sitemap_frequency":"","_sitemap_priority":"","_source_url":"","_subscription_period":"","_subscription_period_interval":"","_subscription_price":"","_tec_slr_enabled":"","_tec_slr_layout":"","_template_type":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_ticket_start_date":"","_tribe_aggregator_allow_multiple_organizers":"","_tribe_aggregator_content_type":"","_tribe_aggregator_file":"","_tribe_aggregator_finalized":"","_tribe_aggregator_hash":"","_tribe_aggregator_import_id":"","_tribe_aggregator_import_name":"","_tribe_aggregator_interactive":"","_tribe_aggregator_origin":"","_tribe_aggregator_post_status":"","_tribe_aggregator_preview":"","_tribe_aggregator_source_name":"","_tribe_aggregator_type":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_hide_attendees_list":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":"","_tribe_ticket_version":"","_type":"","_VenueOrigin":"","_wp_attachment_context":"","_wp_attachment_image_alt":"","_wp_font_face_file":"","_wp_old_date":"2025-11-12","_yoast_wpseo_estimated-reading-time-minutes":"2","_yoast_wpseo_focuskeywords":"","_yoast_wpseo_focuskw_text_input":"","_yoast_wpseo_keywordsynonyms":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_block-catalog":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":"24","_yoast_wpseo_primary_job_listing_type":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_nova_retailer":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_publication":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_tribe_events_cat":"","_yoast_wpseo_videositemap-duration":"","_yoast_wpseo_videositemap-rating":"","_menu_item_classes":[],"_tribe_modified_fields":[],"_wp_attachment_backup_sizes":[],"_wp_suggested_privacy_policy_co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walkway in Suidwal Road.","article_media_icon":"1","article_template":"news","author_byline":"","background_color":"","block_editor":"1","byline":"Ya\u00ebl Malgas","cmplz_hide_cookiebanner":"","competition_end_date":"","contact_advertise_email":"","contact_advertise_phone":"","contact_editorial_email":"","contact_general_email":"","contact_general_phone":"","contact_office_hours":"","contact_physical_address":"","enabled":"","featured_image_custom_caption":"","featured_video_url":"","fields":"","font_body":"","font_header":"","frequency":"","headline":"Rewarded for shoddy work?","hide_border":"","icon":"","is_wp_suggestion":"","issuu_download_url":"","issuu_embed_url":"","language_version_url":"","large_border":"","name":"ymsidewalks","nm_contact_name":"","nm_contact_number":"","nm_date_lost":"","no_overlay_background":"","node-url":"","obituary_born_date":"","obituary_died_date":"","obituary_memoriam_text":"","origin":"","overlay_color":"","overlay_opacity":"","overlay_size":"","placement":"","plural_label":"","post_author":"","post_id":"","post_language":"en","secret-key":"","sponsored_utm_campaign":"","sponsored_utm_content":"","sponsored_utm_medium":"","sponsored_utm_source":"","sponsored_utm_term":"","start_date":"","utm_suppression":"","video_embed_url":"","wp_pattern_sync_status":"","data_version":[],"enclosure":[],"pongrass_image":["ymsidewalks_P1"],"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_newspack_byline_active":false,"_newspack_byline":"","newspack_content_restriction_is_exempt":false,"scaip_prevent_shortcode_addition":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[24],"tags":[7882,7909,7992,9369],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"publication":[],"class_list":["post-294331","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion","tag-letters-to-the-editor","tag-recommended","tag-stellenbosch","tag-walkways"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/walkways_17073-e1763010976607.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":267802,"url":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/readers-letter-why-remove-brick-pavers\/","url_meta":{"origin":294331,"position":0},"title":"Reader&#8217;s letter | &#8216;Why remove brick pavers?&#8217;","author":"Eikestadnuus","date":"9 October 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Stellenbosch local Francois Bossert questions a decision by Stellenbosch Municipality to remove pavers and install artificial grass on the middle island at the Plankenburg turn-off along the R44.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Opinion&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Opinion","link":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/opinion\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The artificial grass installation.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Grass_51288-e1759992284837.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Grass_51288-e1759992284837.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Grass_51288-e1759992284837.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 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The complaint urged for an investigation, citing concerns about public perception. However, the Speaker decided against further investigation, raising issues of accountability and trust\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Opinion&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Opinion","link":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/opinion\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/newspaper-letters.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/newspaper-letters.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/newspaper-letters.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/newspaper-letters.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/newspaper-letters.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/newspaper-letters.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":296428,"url":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/readers-letter-ii-concerns-over-water-supply-amid-growth\/","url_meta":{"origin":294331,"position":2},"title":"READER&#8217;S LETTER II Concerns over water supply amid growth","author":"Eikestadnuus","date":"9 April 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"For the past few weeks the Bo Die Rand area has been experiencing daily interruptions in water supply, for hours on end. 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The Cloesteville community is traumatised.\"","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Opinion&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Opinion","link":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/opinion\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Eikestadnuus","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294331","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=294331"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294331\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/294332"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=294331"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=294331"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=294331"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=294331"},{"taxonomy":"publication","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/publication?post=294331"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}