North West Demolishes Houses From 16-Year-Old Failed Project
MAHIKENG – Sixteen years after contractors were appointed to build government houses outside Mahikeng, the North West Department of Human Settlements is demolishing 40 unfinished structures because they have deteriorated to the point where they cannot simply be completed.
The houses form part of a project dating back to September 2010, when the provincial housing department appointed Glowing Sunset Trading 38 and Marang Distributors to construct approximately 250 houses across villages within the Mahikeng Local Municipality.
In Tshunyane village, Glowing Sunset Trading 38 was allocated 34 houses while Marang Distributors was responsible for another six. But neither contractor completed the work. According to departmental spokesperson Dineo Thapelo, Glowing Sunset stopped working in March 2015 and Marang Distributors abandoned its site three months later in June.
The structures have effectively remained unfinished for more than a decade.
The department says Glowing Sunset Trading 38 received R8.4 million for completed milestones across all villages covered by its contract, including Tshunyane, while Marang Distributors was paid R3.6 million, which similarly included work undertaken in the village. The department maintains that payments were made only for milestones that had actually been completed.
What remained behind, however, could not simply wait indefinitely for another builder.
The National Home Builders Registration Council (NHBRC) was subsequently instructed to assess the structural integrity of incomplete houses across stalled projects. Its assessment found defects and deterioration resulting from building materials being exposed to weather conditions for prolonged periods.
The recommendation was drastic: exposed foundations and wall plates should be demolished rather than incorporated into completed houses.
A new contractor was eventually appointed in January 2026 to demolish and rebuild the 40 Tshunyane houses. Demolition has now begun, while foundations for replacement homes are already being laid.
The decision means a housing project that began in 2010 is effectively returning to the construction stage in 2026, raising an unavoidable accountability question about how unfinished government-funded structures were allowed to stand for more than a decade before residents could receive the homes originally intended for them.
There is also no final answer yet on whether the original contractors will face financial consequences. Asked about penalties, damages, recovery proceedings or blacklisting, the department said it was seeking legal advice.
According to the department, contractors are terminated when they fail to perform or deliver according to required standards, while some contractors voluntarily surrender projects after becoming unable to complete them.
For the latest attempt, officials say additional safeguards have been introduced, including greater involvement from the Tshunyane community, traditional leadership and Mahikeng Local Municipality.
For residents who have watched unfinished houses stand in their community since 2015, however, the measure of success will not be another contractor appointment or another foundation being laid. It will be whether the 40 houses are finally completed and handed to the families who have already waited more than a decade.
Anyone with additional information about the Tshunyane housing project, the contractors involved, other stalled North West housing developments or beneficiaries who have been waiting for houses can contact TownPress confidentially at press@townpress.co.za.