Premiers’ offices up in flames
GAUTENG’S MAKHURA AND EASTERN CAPE’S MASUALLE SUFFER SAME FATE Important tender documents appear to have been lost in Bisho blaze.
In what appears to be an eerie coincidence, the offices of two premiers, the Eastern Cape’s Phumulo Masualle and Gauteng’s David Makhura, were both affected by fires yesterday.
The causes of the fires was unknown.
Gauteng police were investing the cause of a fire which broke out in the office building used by Makhura in Simmonds Street, Johannesburg, yesterday morning.
The blaze, which started on the seventh floor, was quickly contained and no one was injured.
In the afternoon, one of the buildings at the offices of Masualle, in Bisho, was on fire.
Emergency services were immediately dispatched to the scene and all staff members were evacuated.
Masualle himself was in Gauteng attending the ANC policy conference.
Eastern Cape government spokesperson Sonwabo Mbananga said the province was not ruling out arson or foul play.
It was discovered that the building which caught fire was in the administrative block of the premier’s office.
The building apparently contained seven years’ worth of documents involved in investigations into tenders at the province.
“It is notable that investigations into procurement in the province will be affected by the fire because the office was severely damaged. We will get a sense of what has been lost in the coming days,” Mbananga said.
Makhura, community safety MEC Sizakele Nkosi-Malobane and the MEC for infrastructure development Jacob Mamabolo visited the site yesterday.
“I am relieved that there has been no loss of life or serious injury,” said Makhura. –