Happy to take my money but refuses to take responsibility

My relationship with Mr Clint Smith of The Timbersmiths Construction started in January 2026. I needed some contract work done and he was very quick to quote, showed up on time and proceeded to complete the work, mostly to my satisfaction, after we had to sort out a few issues afterwards. Based on the initial work I hired him to do some more work which was also, mostly done to my satisfaction, barring a few issues that he promised would be sorted out afterwards. He then provided me with a third quote on the 6th February 2026 to do some aluminium windows and sliding doors for an entertainment area. Based on my previous experience I paid him a R50,000 deposit on the quote that he provided via EFT of the same day, the 6th February 2026. I also gave him a rough pencil drawing of what I wanted and he proceeded to pass this onto the sub-contractors that he had hired to do the work. I explained to him that the drawing I gave him does not show exact measurements and that he needs to get the sub-contractors to come and do exact measurements before they begin the project. He eventually agreed and sent the sub-contractors a week later on the 12th of February 2026 to come and do exact measurements, which they did. To simplify communications with the sub-contractors I gave them my number so that they can contact me directly to make arrangements with me when they are ready to come and do the work. Thereafter everything started going wrong. The sub-contractors kept postponing. I tried to get hold of Mr Smith on the 9th of March 2026 but he did not accept my call or return my call. I then managed to get hold of the sub-contractors and they arrived later that day to start the work. Thereafter, the sub-contractors again started postponing and again I tried to get hold of Mr Smith. When I eventually got hold of him on the 17th of March 2026 and he then did make some effort to get the sub-contractors to continue the work. I gave him an ultimatum to make sure the work gets done by Friday the 20th of March 2026. By Friday, the work was not completed and the sub-contractors had not been back for 2 days. When I spoke to Mr Smith he then blamed me for interfering with the sub-contractors and refused to take responsibility to get the work done that I had paid him for. I then lost my patience and my temper and asked Mr Smith to refund my deposit or else I would open a case of ***** with the SAPS (not realising at the time that it would probably be a civil case). Mr Smith then proceeded to ignore all my attempts to contact him, so I engaged directly with the sub-contractors to try and resolve the situation. They continued with the work but then asked for more money for materials that were in the original quote and that I had already paid Mr Smith for, so I referred them back to Mr Smith. Mr Smith ignored all their attempts to contact him, so I eventually and out of desperation to get the work done, paid a supplier myself for the materials that the sub-contractors needed to proceed. The sub-contractors then asked for more money for more materials that were also in the original quote and that I had already paid Mr Smith for and again I referred them back to Mr Smith. On the 24th of March 2026 I sent Mr Smith a Letter of Demand to finish the work he was paid and contracted to do. He refused to pay them anything for the materials that they needed to finish the work. He kept accusing me of changing the specifications for the work although nothing had changed and the sub-contractors were still working off the same drawing that I had given Mr Smith with the same exact measurements that they took on the 12th of February 2026 before they started the work. Many heated discussions followed between myself and Mr Smith, where he blatantly informed me that he has “stepped away” and that I must deal with the sub-contractors myself. I said that he can’t take my money and then simply step away from his responsibility to finish the work. He also refused to refund my deposit or to pay the sub-contractors for the materials that they needed to finish the work. Failing any reasonable arguments from Mr Smith, he then resorted to personal insults and name-calling. When I reminded him of the facts of our agreement he again ignored all my subsequent attempts to contact him. I eventually engaged with the sub-contractors again to try and find a way for them to finish the work. They also informed me that Mr Smith refused to pay them for the materials and that he referred them back to me to pay for the materials. Out of desperation to have the work completed I decided to pay for the materials out of my own pocket and made arrangements directly with the sub-contractors to finish the work. To date Mr Smith has made no attempts to contact me or to honour our agreement, or to settle the costs for the materials, or to refund my deposit or any part thereof.