Pandemic: Oudtshoorn court to reopen

THE Oudtshoorn Magistrate’s Court is expected to be fully operational today after the Department of Employment and Labour shut down the facility for not complying with Covid-19 regulations.

The court was handed a prohibition notice last Wednesday for not complying with Covid19 regulations and the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Act.

Some of the contraventions included that the court did not have a proper Covid-19 risk assessment in place, the use of biometric systems, poor screening processes, no social distancing and no procedures in place for the management of isolation and quarantine of staff.

Department of Justice and Constitutional Development spokesperson Chrispin Phiri said the notice was revoked on Friday after the listed issues were addressed.

Provincial chief inspector, David Esau, said the facility had to be closed by the inspectorate as the employer had put staff and the public at large at risk by the lack of basic occupational health and safety protocols.

“During the inspection, we also found the fire extinguishers were expired and there was also poor electrical wiring at the site.

“Follow-up visits were conducted on Thursday and Friday to check on the progress and if the employer attended to all areas of non-compliance listed in the notice. The only outstanding thing was the fire extinguishers that needed to be serviced.

“They were able to get it done by Friday which resulted in the prohibition notice being lifted.

“Although this has been done, I must say from the administrative point of view we are still going to meet with the employers because the risk assessment was not speaking to the operation,” said Esau.

The municipality has been given until later this week to ensure compliance issues are addressed.

Acting municipal manager Gerald de Jager said: “We welcome the visit and recommendations of the Department of Labour.”