The Germiston City Hall was recently chosen as the ideal venue to host young scientists from the metro who had made it to the Eskom Expo Ekurhuleni regional finals.
The city hall is known to courteously host a number of other events, however, Deo Gloria Caterers, who were the caterers for the Eskom Expo, were dissatisfied with the state in which they found the hall’s facilities.
Elsa Kotze, the owner of the catering company, said as a taxpayer she was very ashamed to consider Germiston the headquarters of Ekurhuleni.
“The condition in which we found the kitchen and the toilets were, to say the least, utterly disgusting.
“Before I could use anything in the kitchen, I had to deep clean it,” she said.
“There were neither lights nor toilet paper in the men’s toilets.
“Four out of the six toilets in the women’s bathroom were out of order.”
There was also allegedly a water leak that had not been attended to for more than six months.
“When I asked the cleaning staff (who were there from about 7am to 9am) why the place is in such a mess, I was told that they do not have any cleaning materials,” she said.
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The GCN contacted the metro for comment on the matter, as the city hall is seen as an attraction in the city, and a viable venue to host events.
“We apologise for the conditions experienced by the client,” said Themba Gadebe, spokesperson for the metro.
“The Germiston City Hall is an old facility and it has high usage.
“As a result, we experience regular maintenance issues such as blocked water pipes, leaking water taps and leaking toilets.
“However, we confirm that the facility was cleaned before the function.”
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Regarding the toilet paper, Gadebe said they placed toilet paper at the beginning of the function and then replenished as it was needed.
“We do not put a large amount at first, due to the fact that the toilet paper is taken by the public.
“We do understand, note and appreciate the feedback on the service we provide, and we will strive to find new methods to improve customer’s experience while maintaining reasonable expenditure by the metro.”
The metro further stated that they were currently undertaking maintenance and upgrades at the facility and expected the conditions to greatly improve after the construction.
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