The Makana local municipality’s traffic department, and its engineering and infrastructure offices have been shut by the department of employment and labour, which declared the structures unsafe.
A number of buildings were condemned after inspections on Monday and Tuesday due to various structural issues such as bad lighting, leaking roofs and damaged floors, municipal spokesperson Anele Mjekula told TimesLIVE.
“Despite the short notice, the municipal manager met the [labour] department officials twice on Monday. The first meeting was with managers and a subsequent meeting took place with directors,” said Mjekula.
“In the meeting with the directors, the department requested to do walk-throughs on Monday, and it was agreed that they should continue with their walk-through. They were given maps of all the Makana buildings as well as the names of the directorates.”
The municipality oversees the university town of Makhanda in the Eastern Cape.
Ward councillor Cary Clark said local councillors were not informed about the closures and had been asking the municipality what its response would be.
The offices were raided on Friday by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) and the Hawks, investigating alleged tender irregularities. SIU spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago said they collected documentation and equipment required for audit or compliance purposes concerning successful tenders from January 1 2019 to October 18 2024.
The municipality was informed it had 60 days to fix its problematic buildings — a time frame that could be extended if materials were required from outside service providers. “The municipality has identified a building which they intend moving the traffic department to. We’re just waiting for the relevant government departments to grant the necessary approvals,” said Mjekula.
Residents are advised to go to Ndlambe municipality for vehicle and licence registrations and renewals.
TimesLIVE
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