Johannesburg - The head offices of some key national government departments in the Tshwane central business district were locked this week by a fed-up landlord demanding outstanding rental payments.
Two departments have confirmed that the Bothongo Group locked its buildings over the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure’s failure to pay the company, in one case that goes as far back as last year.
The Water and Sanitation Department had the Sedibeng and Ndinaye Buildings locked by the Bothongo Group.
Sedibeng has the offices of Water and Sanitation Minister Senzo Mchunu, his deputies Dikeledi Magadzi and David Mahlobo, as well as the director-general Dr Sean Phillips.
On Tuesday, the department’s employees were informed that the property owners brought in armed security guards and locked up the whole of the Sedibeng Building, including the fourth and fifth floors of the Ndinaye building.
”Negotiations regarding rental cost per square metre continued till late on Monday night between the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure and the Bothongo Group, with no agreement being reached,” the staff were told.
They were promised that a senior Department of Public Works and Infrastructure official responsible for rentals would provide an update later on Tuesday regarding the latest developments.
The Department of Water and Sanitation also assured its staff that it was in regular contact with both its Department of Public Works and Infrastructure counterparts and the Bothongo Group and promised to provide an update as soon as it receives it.
Last week, the Department of Water and Sanitation’s Ndinaye building had no water for three days and staff were forced to walk to other buildings to access toilets.
The previous week employees based at the Ndinaye building could not report for duty because there was no electricity.
On Wednesday, they were also informed that consultations with stakeholders on reopening the Sedibeng and Ndinaye buildings were still ongoing.
“Department of Water and Sanitation managers are kindly requested to consider the affected staff from the Sedibeng and Ndinaye buildings to work from home on Thursday and Friday, March 10 and 11, 2022,” reads the latest communiqué, against promising to communicate further updates once received.
Water and Sanitation Department spokesperson Sputnik Ratau told Independent Media that the matter was between the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure and the Bothongo Group.
”Our landlord is Public Works, we are in the hands of Public Works,” he said. Ratau said the department had not received any update by Thursday afternoon. “It’s something we cannot control,” he added.
The Public Servants Association’s (PSA) national manager Claude Naiker described the situation at the Department of Higher Education and Training as “irregular”, after the Bothongo Group locked its building on 123 Francis Baard Street.
In 2019, the then Higher Education and Training minister Dr Naledi Pandor revealed that the department was renting office accommodation on a month-to-month basis for nearly R4 million a month.
The Higher Education and Training Department also rented office accommodation at Ndinaye House on a month-to-month basis for over R1.9m, Pandor said at the time.
Naiker said the PSA would meet the departments of Public Works and Infrastructure and Higher Education and Training on Friday, after its members complained that the lockout was forcing them to work from home without the necessary tools of the trade.
According to Naiker, the PSA was informed that the Department of Higher Education and Training had been paying its rent to the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure, but that the money was not paid to the Bothongo Group.
He said the unpaid rent dated back to last year.
The National Treasury referred enquiries on whether it suffered a similar fate at its 240 Madiba Street building back to the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure, which had not responded by late yesterday.
Political Bureau