Solly shuts down Tshwane ‘fire hazard’

Correctional services officers celebrated, ululating and clapping, as Tshwane mayor Solly Msimanga and a contingent of senior Tshwane Emergency Services officials ordered the immediate evacuation of the department of correctional services’ head office – Poynton’s Building – for “serious breaches” of fire and emergency evacuation regulations.

But Justice Minister Michael Masutha said later yesterday he would go to court to challenge Msimanga’s decision.

“The minister of justice and correctional services will have no option but to approach the courts on an urgent basis to challenge Councillor Msimanga’s decision,” the department said.

Masutha said Msimanga should have considered “the dire consequences of shutting down the nerve centre” of the justice department.

Shutting down the high-rise building in Pretoria’s central business district, Msimanga said: “Following what we picked up last week in Johannesburg, we felt that it is important for us to start our own inspections of buildings, especially those that we have previously warned.

“When we walked in here, we saw things that are shocking. Right by the gate, there is supposed to be a [water] booster [but] that does not even exist. Downstairs, where you have a tank that is supposed to be pushing water into the building [in the event of a fire], the connectors are not there. This means should there be a fire tomorrow, this building will go,” said Msimanga,

Inside one of the offices, where thousands of files are stored, officers told Msimanga the lights were faulty.

“Where they are storing files, there are lights that are sparking. That’s where you have a whole lot of papers that are in the building. The escape routes are locked shut, which means people have to go through smoke or through fire. These are some of the things we communicated to the company [running the building] here in 2016,” said Msimanga.

He said 1 600 people used the building, which also accommodated members of the South African National Defence Force.

“You can imagine if there is a fire here, what danger would people have to face. We have a canteen here using gas that is not even registered. Should there be a fire here, this building will be gone in a matter of minutes because of the amount of gas,” said Msimanga. – ANA

Should there be a fire, this building will be gone in a matter of minutes.

Solly Msimanga Tshwane mayor