Kareekloof, a favourite memory for a lot of us who grew up in the Gauteng area. Photos taken in 2021.
Access here is near impossible yet the cables have all been dug up and stolen.
Protea Hotels contract was ended in March 2012 by the Department of Nature Conservation but since then nothing has been done to the property. Why they cancelled the contract, we will never know, why a prime resort like this is standing empty, no one knows either. The super tube is no more as it's fiberglass structure succumbed to the devastating fire there in 2020.
Suikerbosrand itself is still functioning and you can take a drive, hike or cycle in the reserve itself.
Three provincial administrations, millions of rands and 11 years - and the water supply project that was to breathe life into the Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve, near Heidelberg, is yet to be completed.
The project has been so badly managed that the Gauteng Department of Infrastructure is unable to say how much has been spent on it.
The reserve, which boasts a number of bird and animal species and which draws hikers to its scenic trails, was closed to the public on January 26 after management said it could not guarantee the safety and health of visitors.
The Suikerbosrand Northern Waterline project includes an 80kl underground reservoir to be supplied by 14.46km of piping to connect it to a Rand Water line.
A generator and pump station are to be installed to supply the reserve with water.
The project was conceived after it became clear that the southern water line had reached the end of its lifespan and was creating problems.
The water is needed for the Kareekloof area, a section of the reserve designated for recreation and braai facilities.
But two contractors later, the department is still battling to complete the work. One of the contractors appeared before the provincial portfolio committee on infrastructure last week and claimed he was owed more than R5-million for work done on the unfinished project.
During the portfolio committee, officials of Gauteng department of infrastructure development took turns trying to explain to chairperson Landiwe Lasindwa how the project would be rescued from collapse. The project was started years ago when Mbhazima Shilowa was provincial premier and has continued through three administrations. The department told Lasindwa that the contract with the contractor, Lumacon, was worth R5-million and expenditure to date was R2.3-million, but these figures could not be substantiated.
A departmental report before the committee said delays were the result of an unhealthy relationship "between the contractor, Lumacon, and the engineer, Mosa Group, since the project began".
"[The department] has tried to intervene in June 2014 as this was affecting the progress of the project," the report said.
Relations were so bad that the contractor was not taking the engineering company's instruction and "work could not progress as planned", it said.
But Mosa Group claimed Lumacon's on-site staff did not have capacity to carry out instructions. It claimed it had issued numerous warning letters.
Lumacon representative Lindokuhle Sithole, who was present at the committee meeting, defended his company's position.
"We have on numerous occasions refused to take instructions because they were out of the scope of the project.
"We are not allowed to execute verbal instructions that are not on the design and scope of the project. These instructions were pushing the cost beyond the allocated funds," said Sithole.
Bethuel Netshiswinzhe, head of department, said 90% of the work had been completed and the project would be finished by next month. But this was challenged by the committee after Sithole said much still needed to be done.
The project was investigated by Public Protector Thuli Madonsela, who found that the department mismanaged public funds.
Lambasting the department, Lasindwa said: "The project was supposed to be completed in 2009. What happened all these years? Where is the department's project manager? How much have we really spent on this project? This is public money. You cannot spend it as if it is your own ..."
The reserve's only source of water is borehole water but it is difficult to distribute it to all the points of the property.
"For the past two years, officials working on the project have told us they are 90% complete and we are still waiting," said Eleanor McGregor, director responsible for nature reserves at the department of economic development, agriculture and rural development for the Gauteng government.
