Johannesburg - The Johannesburg metro centre buildings should be demolished and rebuilt, says council speaker Colleen Makhubele.
Makhubele told The Star that several reports showed the municipal buildings were not compliant with occupational health and safety standards.
"There is evidence to show that the building is not suitable to work in or occupy and can collapse any time," she said.
Makhubele said she had raised the matter with Mayor Thapelo Amad and the previous mayor, Mpho Phalatse. She said the structures attached to the council chambers should be demolished and rebuilt since the council chambers were still newer.
"If the executive does not do anything about this, I will have to bring a compliance enforcement report so that the building can be evacuated before any harm is done," she said.
Makhubele said she was waiting for the city’s Emergency Services to inform her office about the cause of a fire that occurred on Friday. Employees had to be sent home after smoke seeped through various floors of the metro centre.
"Once I receive the report, I will then be able to communicate to councillors and the staff as to what actually caused the fire," she said.
The Star has seen a report on the safety of the building that indicates that the sprinkler heads at blocks A and B of the building older than 20 years need to be replaced. A 15-year routine maintenance programme to examine external and internal corrosion was not conducted.
A 25-year routine to test the sprinkler heads was also not conducted. Some sprinkler pipes and fittings are corroded, which may lead to pipe bursts during emergencies. Workers at the Metro Centre had also complained that sometimes the building did not have water and that the toilets were blocked.
The DA caucus in the city said it did not rule out the possibility that the fire was caused intentionally.
DA councillor Nonhlanhla Sifumba told The Star that the city was going through a lot of political tension, which was affecting the administration of the city.
"We cannot say for sure what was the cause of the fire, but the city is experiencing a lot of political instability," she said.
Sifumba said the metro centre was a great concern for all who work and do business at the building.
"There is water in the basement, and we do not even know where that water comes from. That building is not safe, and we will be taking the issue up as the DA caucus," she said.
Sifumba said what was of more concern was the secrecy surrounding the fire that occurred on Friday.
"We have not been formally informed as to what happened. We are not even sure which floors are affected because there are different stories," she said.
The Star