DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH BUILDING ‘LIKE A BOMB WAITING TO EXPLODE’

A Department of Health building in central Pietermaritzburg is in such a bad state, that it’s “like a bomb waiting to explode,” a trade union has warned.

For years, the building in Jabu Ndlovu Street has had a leaking roof and no ventilation, affecting work performance.

Last month, the Department of Labour carried out an inspection of the building and had it condemned.

Nine of the affected 100 employees were transferred to Town Hill Hospital, while the rest have been at home.

“It is very worrying that weeks after the inspection, the department has not yet made any plans for relocating the employees so that they can continue with their work,” said Mazwi Ngubane, Harry Gwala regional secretary of the National, Education, Health and Allied Workers Union (Nehawu).

“Having employees sitting at home and unable to work is going to cause problems, as there will be a new backlog added to the existing one. “If that happens, service providers may not be paid on time and the work will stop,” he said.

Ngubane said the affected office handled very serious matters. “It has confidential files, which the employees may not take home because of the nature of their job. When we reported the building, it was not because we wanted the employees not to work; we wanted them to work in a safe and conducive environment.

“The department is just folding their arms now and not doing anything. If they continue like this, things are going to be bad. Right now, the situation is like a bomb waiting to explode.”

The Department of Labour, in its inspection report which The Witness has seen, stated that the use of the building’s A, B and D office blocks was prohibited until all the roof leaks were repaired, all the mould cleaned and the ventilation made adequate so that the air breathed by employees did not endanger their health.

The Department of Health did not respond to queries sent to them last week.