Vereeniging – The DA Vaal regional chairperson Prudence Hlanyane recently led an oversight visit at Vereeniging Licensing Department. Hlanyane was accompanied  fellow DA Councillor Thabo Motsoane and the DA Caucus from Sedibeng.

During her inspection, Hlanyane revealed that dire working conditions at the facility were hindering service delivery.

During a walkabout at the building, the DA discovered that toilets were out of order while some were filthy and not suitable for use. A section of the building had been declared unfit and subsequently cordoned off by the Department of Labour due to collapsed ceilings and aged infrastructure.

Hlanyane says: “The car registration department has been completely closed off and all services thereof have been referred to neighboring licensing departments within the region. The toilets are filthy due to lack of maintenance. Some of the staff toilets have also been declared unsafe by the department.”

Hlanyane said despite these conditions, staff is expected to come to work and carry on as normal. Hlanyane said the entire facility is filthy and the structure is unstable. Hlanyane stated that although employees did not want to come on record to state their feelings about the dire working condition, there was a high level of dissatisfaction among them.

Hlanyane called on the Sedibeng District Municipality (SDM) Transport and Infrastructure MMC, Nkosinathi Ndwandwe and SDM Mayor Lerato Maloka to urgently intervene in the matter and ensure that the matter is resolved.

At the time of going to press, SDM had not responded to a media enquiry from Ster North.