City’s staff accommodation crisis
Corporate services boss outlines desperate need for extra office space
THE Nelson Mandela Bay municipality is struggling to house its large staff contingent in what has been described as an accommodation crisis by corporate services boss Vuyo Zitumane. In a report presented to the human resources and corporate services committee yesterday, Zitumane said the metro needed at least R135-million to purchase the Post Office building in Govan Mbeki Avenue to solve some of the institution’s accommodation woes.
It is not clear how much is being spent on rent annually.
The municipality needs 20 000m² of property to supplement the 38 000m² of owned property and 18 000m² of rented property in the city centre for its 7 000-strong workforce.
“The reality is that the current office space we have is informed by the past and there was never a consideration that at some point there would be a new structure and new positions,” Zitumane said.
“When we look at where we are coming from, from 2006 up to now we have close to 2 000 positions which were never accommodated for in the planning phase.”
Zitumane said the need for additional space for staff had been brought forward by several departments within the municipality.
“We have a crisis. A number of departments are complaining about space for additional staff, which has resulted in us going outside and leasing buildings at very high prices, which are consuming our budget.”
Zitumane said the municipality had lost important files due to a lack of storage space.
“The crisis that we have is in records and part of the problem is the supply chain department as they don’t have a storage facility for records.
“All our contracts are being stored in one single place and with personnel records.
“I am aware that this year the auditor-general will be focused on human resources.”
She said the problem was exacerbated by a recent flood, which meant that vacant posts had to be readvertised after records were lost.
“If you were to go to the 8th floor, you’d find the crisis of records that are all over the place,” she said.
“We recently had files and we lost some personnel records, including applications.”
Zitumane said an ideal solution would be to buy buildings.
“However, the process would take 20 years.”
As a medium-term solution, the municipality is also looking to buy the Fidelity building, which is occupied by the budget and treasury department.
The building would resolve more than 50% of the space requirements.
Zitumane said the municipality had plans to refurbish some of the buildings to include a gym, healthcare, canteens and a daycare centre.
“The institution needs to look into erecting new structures that will meet the needs of the institution, which will be in line with new trends and technology.
“Purchasing of old buildings does not mean they meet the requirements but these will be modified to suit the municipality’s needs and requirements.”
Buildings rented by the municipality include the Reserve Bank Building, which Zitumane said could be used as a new council chamber subject to feasibility.
Plans to purchase Kwantu Towers and the Starport Building were also under way.