The Citizen reports that trade unions on Sunday claimed that a tender authorised last year for the relocation of health officials from the Bank of Lisbon building to a refurbished building was cancelled by the Gauteng department of infrastructure development.  

Six labour unions gathered in the Johannesburg CBD outside the badly burnt Bank of Lisbon building, which houses the provincial departments of health and human settlements, to inform the public about the developments that came out of their meeting with the provincial administrators.  They said they wanted those responsible for the failure of the R8.3 million relocation project to be held accountable.  Simphiwe Gada, chairperson of Denosa in Gauteng, noted that taxpayers’ money was used to renovate a building it had been intended to relocate the health head office to.  Gada went on to state:  “When the process of appointing a relocation company had to happen, that process was frustrated and ultimately that is why they were saying they were not going to move the staff.  We are calling for those who spent the taxpayers’ money to take responsibility and be held accountable …”  Gada said that unions wanted officials involved to recuse themselves, and for two officials with the department of infrastructure development to be suspended “with immediate effect”.  Gracia Rikhotso, Nehawu’s Gauteng deputy secretary, called on members in the health department, working in buildings identified as hazardous, not to report for work on Monday until something was done.

• Read this report by Chisom Jenniffer Okoye in full at The Citizen
• See too, Unions tell workers not to work in unsafe buildings, at eNCA

Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page