LIMPOPO – DEBRIS left to lie around at the state-of-the-art Sassa building in Mohlabaneng village near Letaba is a cause for concern.
The debris was caused by the roof of a hall that was blown off in a storm some two years ago. It has not yet been cleared, and the roof has not yet been repaired.
Currently, the department of social development is in dispute with the contractor over the repairs to be done.
This was confirmed by social development spokesperson, Adéle van der Linde, who said the roof was still under guarantee when it was blown off, and the department’s legal department was handling the matter. The damage was assessed to be around R430 000, she said. The building cost over R2 million to be built.
Van der Linde dismissed allegations that the building posed a risk to the lives of employees, saying that the hall was detached from the building in which employees were accommodated. “Employees are discouraged from making use of the hall,” she said.
DA Limpopo leader, Jacques Smalle, however, said the lives of employees were at risk from “damaged building elements that threaten to collapse on them as they do their work”.
“The DA continues to call for the social development head of department in Limpopo to do the honourable thing and step down for this dismal failure.
“We trust that MEC Mashamba will undertake this enquiry and take action against those responsible for an unnecessary delay that threatens life and limb. We have written to her to urgently investigate and report this issue to Sassa on national level,” he said.
