TimesLIVE reports that the SA Broadcasting Corporation’s (SABC’s) Auckland Park headquarters were evacuated after a fire broke out on Thursday, a day after officials from the state broadcaster were outlining plans in parliament to overhaul its ageing facilities.

The fire is said to have started in the building’s lift pit area on the ground floor. No significant damage was caused and no injuries reported. On Wednesday, SABC CFO Yolande van Biljon told parliament’s portfolio committee on communications and digital technologies that the public broadcaster’s facilities, and its Auckland Park headquarters in particular, were more than 45 years old and had received limited or no maintenance over the past 15 years. DA MP, Natasha Mazzone, had asked the SABC about the dilapidated state of its buildings, including a lack of water and faulty air-conditioning in studios. Van Biljon said the SABC was significantly affected by water cuts as was the case in Johannesburg in general. “Ultimately, we don’t have water to run our chillers, which is what powers our air-cons. We are then forced to power these down,” she explained. The SABC had backup water on campus for as long as a day and was increasing that to about two-and-a-half days, she added.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Andisiwe Makinana at BusinessLive

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