Lawyers for the SA National Defence Union (Sandu) have written a letter to defence minister Thandi Modise asking for immediate action to be taken to fix the broken air conditioning system at defence headquarters in Tshwane.
Sandu said on Friday military staff in their hundreds were expected to work in office temperatures reaching the thirties for several weeks.
“This is a direct threat to the occupational health and safety of military staff, especially given that the building is designed in a way that it has no opening windows.
“Poor ventilation occurs and poses an obvious threat to the health of the staff,” union secretary Pikkie Greeff said in a statement.
He said medicine stored at the facility was in danger of being spoiled because of the excessive temperature, which posed a further health risk and amounted to non-compliance with legal pharmaceutical requirements.
“The installation houses the entire command of the SANDF with its support staff. No-one should be expected to endure such a working environment let alone the heartbeat of the SANDF,” said Greeff.
In the letter to the minister, Sandu’s lawyers said they had instructions to demand that an immediate solution is found within the department of defence to alleviate the air-conditioning problem at the headquarters.
The minister was asked to inform Sandu when the air-conditioning system would be repaired. “We look forward to your response within five working days of this letter, failing which we have instructions to take this matter further, which may include legal action and/or laying a complaint with the department of labour,” read the letter.
A request for comment has been sent to the SANDF and the article will be updated when it responds.
TimesLIVE
Sandu lawyers demand urgent fix to broken air conditioning at defence HQ
Image: Alaister Russell/Sunday Times
Lawyers for the SA National Defence Union (Sandu) have written a letter to defence minister Thandi Modise asking for immediate action to be taken to fix the broken air conditioning system at defence headquarters in Tshwane.
Sandu said on Friday military staff in their hundreds were expected to work in office temperatures reaching the thirties for several weeks.
“This is a direct threat to the occupational health and safety of military staff, especially given that the building is designed in a way that it has no opening windows.
“Poor ventilation occurs and poses an obvious threat to the health of the staff,” union secretary Pikkie Greeff said in a statement.
He said medicine stored at the facility was in danger of being spoiled because of the excessive temperature, which posed a further health risk and amounted to non-compliance with legal pharmaceutical requirements.
“The installation houses the entire command of the SANDF with its support staff. No-one should be expected to endure such a working environment let alone the heartbeat of the SANDF,” said Greeff.
In the letter to the minister, Sandu’s lawyers said they had instructions to demand that an immediate solution is found within the department of defence to alleviate the air-conditioning problem at the headquarters.
The minister was asked to inform Sandu when the air-conditioning system would be repaired. “We look forward to your response within five working days of this letter, failing which we have instructions to take this matter further, which may include legal action and/or laying a complaint with the department of labour,” read the letter.
A request for comment has been sent to the SANDF and the article will be updated when it responds.
TimesLIVE
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