By Luvuyo Mjekula
The traffic department in Knight Street in Makhanda is currently closed because the Employment and Labour Department prohibited its continued use after inspectors found the building to be unsafe for workers.
Labour inspectors this week issued prohibition notices on the Makana Municipality in terms of the amended Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993, leading to the closures of the traffic department and the Engineering & Infrastructure office in High Street.
Grocott’s saw the prohibition notice served on the Engineering & Infrastructure director.
The document read: “I hereby prohibit you from… allowing employees to occupy an unsafe building [with a]broken ceiling, roof leakages, no lights and carpet, water flooding.”
Workers at the engineering department left work around lunchtime on Tuesday, unsure where to go.
Meanwhile, the closure of the traffic department has sparked uncertainty and frustration among Makhanda residents.
However, to try and avert a traffic services crisis, the Makana Municipality has been forced to hastily find alternative premises for the traffic department.
In a statement released on Wednesday, spokesperson Anele Mjekula said: “The municipality has identified a building which they intend moving the traffic department to. We are just waiting for the relevant government departments to grant the necessary approvals.”
He said the move should address the concerns of worried residents and workers.
He said employees who worked in the buildings that were closed would be relocated to other offices to share office space with other employees.
Shortly thereafter, the municipality issued a notice informing residents where to go for their traffic service requirements.
In the notice, the municipality confirmed that the traffic department is closed until further notice.
The following services can be accessed as follows:
Renewal of vehicle licences can be done at the Post Office in Makhanda.
Learner licences to be done in Ndlambe Local Municipality.
Driver Licences to be done in Ndlambe Local Municipality.
Registration and other transactions to be done in Ndlambe Local Municipality.
On the door of the ‘condemned’ traffic department building, a notice from Ndlambe confirms the Port Alfred-based municipality will serve Makana citizens.
Mjekula did not provide any timeframes for the moves to the , but said the Employment and Labour Department had given the municipality 60 days to repair the “problematic” buildings. “A number of buildings were condemned due to various structural issues such as bad lighting, leaking roofs and damaged floors,” Mjekula stated.
He provided a sequence of events leading up to the closures.
Mjekula said on Thursday, 31 October 2024, the municipality received a notice of inspection from the Employment and Labour Department, which indicated that the department intended to conduct an inspection of municipal buildings in High Street.
“The inspection notice according to the letter was due to take place on Monday, 04 November 2024, which gave the municipality very little time to make the necessary preparations for the inspection.”
He said despite the short notice, the municipal manager met with the department’s officials twice on Monday. The first meeting was with managers and a subsequent meeting took place with directors on the same day.
“In the meeting with the directors, the department requested to do walkthroughs on Monday, and it was agreed that they should continue with their walkthroughs, and they were given maps of all Makana buildings as well as all the names of the directorates. They agreed that they would start with the walkthroughs and the required documents would follow because they would be in Makhanda for a week.
“On Tuesday, 05 November, they came to meet with the municipal manager, and it was agreed that they could continue with their walkthroughs as they had given prohibition notices to the municipality the day before, which were signed by the municipality.”
He said the municipality was informed during the meeting that it had 60 days “to fix whatever was problematic in the buildings, which could be extended in instances where procurement of goods is required from outside service providers”.
“Makana Municipality will therefore look into those buildings that were issued with prohibition notices and see how quickly they can be fixed.”
Mjekula concluded by raising questions regarding the presence of journalists during the inspections.
“The municipality was surprised during the walkthroughs on Tuesday when people from the local media arrived in the municipal buildings and took photos while the inspections were in progress, which insinuated that there might be some non-cooperation from the municipality in relation to the inspection, which was not the case.”
The inspectors gave the municipality 60 days to fix the “unsafe” building, as well as several others.
This led to the closures of the traffic department as well as the Engineering & Infrastructure office in High Street. It was reported that the Cleansing and Local Economic Directorate offices were also inspected and managers were given time to fix their workplaces.
