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Lynden Lund at the Ficksburg Cherry Festival

Smithfield artist Lynden Lund had a successful exhibition at the Ficksburg Cherry Festival.

FEAR, anxiety, anger, confusion. These are the feelings of the people of Smithfield now that Rainbow Construction has officially pulled out of town.

The company is dumping its three road-building projects to save itself from bankruptcy. Rainbow will concentrate on its ‘core building division’ in the hope of covering its losses.

Our main street

In the dramatic hours after Smithfield learned Rainbow was pulling out of the road project, a project which has left the town and its economy in a shambles, there was more chaos – some workers operating the stop/go sections of the N6 went on strike because they had not been paid. The traffic department and police were unable to find an alternative way of keeping the stop/go sections operating and so the national road was closed in the interests of safety.

Local businesses, already hard hit by the roadwork, were thus completely cut-off from the outside world, leaving a strange silence over the town. As Smiffie went to press on Tuesday the police reported that, after being closed for more than 24 hours, the N6 was to be officially reopened at 6pm.

Among rumours abounding was talk of ‘a rescue company’ coming to pick up the pieces and carry on with the road project but by late Tuesday there was still no official confirmation.

Since the road reconstruction project started, centrally located local businesses have come under enormous financial pressure as they were effectively cut off from N6 traffic. Some have closed; others say they may have to follow suit after suffering the worst trading years in a decade. Now they face additional uncertainty because there is no information about when – or whether – the N6 will get back to normal.

In addition, individuals who have been working for construction officials – cleaners, gardeners as well as those operating the stop/go’s – have been left without pay.

The already fragile economy of the town has been dealt an enormous blow. With the year-end season approaching it is clear that many visitors who usually stay over in the town are planning to by-pass it because of the chaos caused by the road works. This is one of the main sources of income for the town, and if visitors continue to stay away the future is bleak.

Smithfield, you’re on your own
Since the traumatic discovery that Rainbow was dumping the town, there has been a complete lack of official information and communication with the people of Smithfield.

Alarmed at the implications for the town, Smiffie requested comment from the acting town manager but there was no response. Officials from South African National Roads Agency simply referred Smiffie from one phone number to another with no outcome. The silence and inaction of SANRAL is all the more shocking given the obvious danger to road users posed by the likelihood that the stop/go system would collapse. As predicted, the national road was closed following an expected worker strike, but there has still not been any official comment. Asked for help, SANRAL’s Pottie Potgieter unhelpfully commented that the road could be opened tomorrow – or in three months.

As for Rainbow itself, the initial response by people at the company’s head office was to deny there was anything wrong. When Smiffie contacted the company a representative of the managing director Gerald Loe, said they had no comment for the people of the town. However, they would reconsider things, perhaps next week, and might ‘possibly’ make a statement then.

Told that Smiffie  was in possession of a letter from the company spelling out its financial troubles and the steps it was taking to rescue Rainbow from liquidation, the official said that this letter ‘could not be used’ by Smiffie  as it had not been cleared for use by the media. She added it was ‘a pity’ that  Smiffie had decided to run a story about Rainbow and its decision to pull out despite the fact that the company had refused to comment.

It’s as though the people of Smithfield, who are being most harmed by recent developments, have become invisible.

What the Rainbow letter says:

In this letter, sent to the company’s creditors, the company says it appears reasonably likely’ that Rainbow will become insolvent within the next six months. Rainbow’s three roadwork projects – Smithfield itself, the N6 between Smithfield and Reddersburg as well as a project at Bethlehem – are blamed for the company’s ‘current financial distress’ because they are incurring ‘substantial losses’. It appears ‘reasonably unlikely’ that Rainbow will be able to pay its debts as they fall due over the next six months. The directors therefore decided to place Rainbow under ‘Business Rescue’ supervision in an attempt to patch up its ailing finances.

The figures:

While Rainbow has been working on the three road contracts it has generated more than R261-million while its costs have been almost R321-million. As at 31 July 2011 the company had made an actual loss of virtually R60-million. As a results of these losses, ‘the company has no cash on hand, has current liabilities of R119 984 000 and current assets of R72 150 000.’

Blaming the roadwork contracts:

Rainbow’s board says that its ‘fairly recently established roads and earthworks division, which is the division involved in the three roads contracts … has caused the company’s financial distress. By closing or restructuring this division, which has proved unsuccessful, the company could continue with its core building division…. Thus the board is reasonably of the belief that the company can be rescued by the closure of or restructuring of the roads and earthworks division, and the disposal or renegotiation of the current roads contracts with the employer and other potential contractors.’

 What about the physical mess left behind?

In addition to the economic hardship caused by the roadwork, there is the physical mess left behind. Several clumps of enormous old trees have been cut down, roads have been torn up, the entrance to town, once the pride of Smithfield, is now a shambles. Parking around the all-important garage and police station is chaotic and likely to be worse over the Christmas season. And still the people of the town are told nothing.

Karin en Chris Torode en Ros en Walter Krahn se Rustic Relic in Pres Hofmannstr het skade gelei as gevolg van die ompad om die dorp – oudhede is nie iets wat die plaaslike inwoners gereeld koop nie. Toe die ou hotel weer sonder ’n baas was het Karin en Chris hulle kans gesien.

Vir eers het hulle net die kroeg bedryf, maar hulle het toe gesien dat daar plek is vir die voorraad van die Rustic Relic. Die oudhede pas perfek in die groot ou sit- en eetkamer van die hotel wat nou Rusties Pub and Grill heet.

Die kroeg kry heelwat ondersteuning van plaaslike inwoners maar reisigers begin nou ook om die plek te ontdek. Die kroeg is gewoonlik vanaf 09h00 tot “closing” oop behalwe op ’n Maandag want die week begin ’n bietjie stadiger, sê nou van so 11h00 en Sondae is hulle toe. Daar is ook langsaan ’n kamer waar kinders kan sit of vergaderings gehou kan word.

’n Verskeidenheid drankies word aangebied asook ‘pub grub’. Teen die muur word die menu asook ’n lys drankies met alle pryse duidelik vertoon.

Ouens wat nie alleen by die huis rugby wil kyk  nie kan gerus ’n draai maak. Chris beloof om elke wedstryd van die Wêreldbeker te wys asook die Curriebeker se finale wedstryd. Hy beplan ook om ekstra televisiestelle te installeer.

Karin en Chris het nog baie planne soos ’n ‘jukebox’ wat binnekort sy plek gaan inneem. Smiffie wens hulle sterkte toe met hulle onderneming.

Brand St has for a long time been full of potholes and drivers could be seen weaving their way in between the sharp edged holes. Now one can sail down Brand St, enjoying the scenery. How nice, and thank you Rainbow Construction for your generosity in sponsoring this wonderful project for our town!

Rainbow workers also came to the aid of local farmers after a blaze broke out in the veld outside Smithfield. They brought their large water tanker to supplement the smaller tankers belonging to the farmers. The combined efforts quickly brough the fire under control.

Police with sniffer dogs combed the veld at the base of the mountain outside town for the missing person whose abandoned car was found on the side of the road. It had been seen there the night before but did not arouse suspicion.

It was still there the following morning and police went into action.

During the day additional men and sniffer dogs were brought into the search.

Initial indications were that the woman had not been abducted but attempts to contact her on her cellphone were not successful. Later in the day contact was made and the young woman came down from the mountain. She was unharmed.

It is not known what costs were involved in the use of a helicopter from Bloemfontein and a large police presence which spent hours searching for the missing person. It is understood that no charges are being laid.

The police wish to thank members of the community who alerted them to the fact that the woman was missing. This enabled them to immediately mount the search.

The spectactular flow of water left some crossings impassable, although alternative routes were soon found.

When wool needs to be out of the rain!