Aid centre workers told to vacate building in Sibasa
If judgment made in the High Court in Thohoyandou is implemented, 65 employees of the Thohoyandou Victim Empowerment Programme (TVEP) in Sibasa near Thohoyandou will face retrenchment.
LIMPOPO –Â The centre, that offers 14 essential services to victims of rape and domestic violence, will most certainly face closure.
The Programme Director for the TVEP, Fiona Nicholson said for the past 15 years, the centre has been negotiating with the Department of Public Works to find a way forward with regard to the premises they occupy on the grounds of the former South African Embassy in Sibasa.
“For many years, all stakeholders agreed that we should be permitted to stay on in the building, but action was delayed due to challenges regarding ownership of the property as a whole. Efforts to renegotiate a way forward fell on deaf ears. Before we could try to find an amicable solution, the department decided to pursue the matter through the courts,” said Nicholson.
Last Wednesday, the Limpopo High Court ruled in four of the Public Works Department and the centre has been given two weeks to vacate the premises or face eviction.
According to Nicholson, since inception of TVEP in 2002, they have directly assisted over 24 000 victims of sexual and gender-based violence, for which documentary evidence is available; and they have employed 65 people, so if forced to close 65 families will be without an income;
“Although most of the services we provided are regarded as ‘essential services’, the TVEP is also worried that Public Works was doing nothing to maintain and refurbish the building. The building is old and dilapidated and is a health hazard to us as tenants,” added Nicholson.
One of the long serving employees, Nkhumiseni Tshivhase, Project Manager HIV/Aids Services said the situation is frustrating and closure would mean job losses to many workers.
“Most of the families are breadwinners,” he commented.
Tshivhase said she started working at TVEP in 2007, and she was also worried that, the services they rendered to domestic violence victims will be forced to close down.
Spokesperson for the department of Public Works, Joshua Kwapa said they duly sympathised with the situation.
“We will make overtures to sister departments, in this case, Social Development to see how we support and assist the Thohoyandou Victim Empowerment Programme. We value their contribution in society and we truly appreciate the noble work they are doing,” said Kwapa.
According to him, they must indicate that they have a duty to implement the law as demanded by the Public Finance Management Act.
“In this case we are required by law through leasing our property to receive rental fees at market value for many other compliance reasons including auditing.
“In the event of non-payment which amounts to bridge of our contract, eviction becomes one of the options. We obviously provide the tenants with ample opportunities to make payment arrangements; however, if those are also not honoured we are therefore compelled by law to exercise our rights. We will look into the case and see how we assist the TVEP,” he further said.
