ELM workers fight against mopeds, worms and pigeon droppings!
Although Emfuleni has given notice that the staff of the old Trustbank building must vacate their offices, they do not yet know when or where they will move
“Employees of the Emfuleni Municipality sit with their hands in their hair over their unlivable office situation. They literally also have pigeon droppings in their hair!”
So says the husband of one of the female employees who works in the old Trustbank building in Vanderbijlpark’s business centre. The Emfuleni Local Municipality (ELM) apparently initially rented the dilapidated building from the original owner and later bought it. However, it is now so battered that it poses serious health risks.
The building houses various municipal departments such as City Planning, Building Plans, Housing, Labor and Human Resources. Currently there are more than 100 ELM staff working in the building.
“Few people know in what appalling conditions these officials work. The staff members don’t want to complain because they don’t want to lose their jobs, but now is the time for someone to bring the problem to Emfuleni’s attention. I’m really, really worried about my wife’s health,” said the man, who asked not to be identified.
“When it rains, water flows through the ceilings and down the walls. Documents such as building plans often get soaked. Many of the ceilings on the first floor have already collapsed due to the water damage. There are often pigeon droppings on the desks and in the employees’ hair as it filters down through the broken ceilings. There is so much mold and stench in the building that many of the staff are chronically ill and depressed. Some of the offices are contaminated with mopeds and worms,” says the man.
Some of the ceilings and roof slabs outside the building are hanging on by grace. A piece of it recently blew off during a gust of wind and landed on the ground between two vehicles. If it hit a pedestrian, it could have fatal consequences.
The assault on the battered building does not only come from nature. Rude people further contribute to the unbearable conditions. Apparently, visitors often come to drink alcohol at the hangout across the building and then urinate openly against ELM’s exterior walls.
“On hot days it rots so much that the Emfuleni staff cannot live in their offices. Emfuleni may no longer expose the staff and members of the public who have to visit the offices to such dangerous conditions,” says Vaalweekblad’s source.
Although Emfuleni has given notice that the staff of the old Trustbank building must vacate their offices, they do not yet know when or where they will move. A big challenge is that decades of documentation, such as the building plans, will have to move with them to new offices.
DA Councilor Maureen Dosoudil from Emfuleni’s Ward 5 says she has long been extremely concerned about municipal workers in the old Trustbank building as well as those in the nearby OK building. The latter building is in just as battered condition. As far as Vaalweekblad could determine, ELM rents the OK building at R1.2 million per month, but it appears that neither ELM nor the landlord does any maintenance in or around the building. Councilor Dosoudil already in July last year officially asked questions about the future of the staff in the two sick buildings to the municipal manager, but after a year still got no answers.
* Vaalweekblad requested ELM and the Emfuleni facilities manager’s comments on the buildings and the planned relocation of the staff involved, but by press time had not yet received any response.
