Timeslive reports that the national health department on Friday condemned acts of sabotage at its Civitas Building head office in Pretoria.  

The department indicated:  “There were two arson attempts this week‚ with the most recent yesterday afternoon with a fire set on the 14th floor [on Thursday afternoon] whilst there were still people in the building.  Fortunately‚ the alarms went off and staff [members] were able to extinguish the blaze – otherwise the results might have been lethal.”  Other examples of sabotage included disabling smoke detectors‚ disabling security cameras‚ breaking locks and forced entry to the building and its control rooms and wiring cut soon after contractors had repaired air-conditioning units.  The department condemned these life-threatening acts and called on law enforcement agencies to investigate these criminal activities.  Since April this year‚ department employees in Civitas have protested over their working conditions.  The department said its head office‚ although poorly maintained‚ was not a death trap as Civitas had never been declared uninhabitable by all authorities that had assessed the building.  When people said the building was uninhabitable‚ they were mostly referring to the heat‚ ventilation and cooling system‚ according to the department.  It said poor maintenance by the department of public works had resulted in the air-conditioner malfunctioning.

• Read this report by Ernest Mabuza in full at Timeslive
• Read too, Two fires at Civitas building in Pretoria were arson, say Motsoaledi and Nxesi, at BusinessLive
• And also, Joburg's buildings of death: Public servants refuse to enter unsafe offices, at The Star

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