Emfuleni’s unsanitary mess affects staff

Respect your staff and clean up, the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) tells Emfuleni.

Help us oppose corruption

OUTA is standing up against government corruption and mismanagement. Our work is made possible though donations by our paying supporters.

12/06/2019 10:58:03

Emfuleni’s unsanitary mess affects staff


Emfuleni municipality’s own offices are closed due to sewage spills.

“This as a shameful state of affairs and we call on Emfuleni and the building owners to act immediately to resolve this crisis,” says OUTA’s Regional Manager Michael Holenstein.

The municipality’s customer service office in the OK Building on the corner of President Kruger and CR Swart streets in Vanderbijlpark was closed by the Department of Labour as it is a health hazard. 

The municipality admits that this is the second time this year the department has shut down those offices. “This illustrates the municipality’s failure to take the situation and the health of its employees and the public seriously,” says Holenstein.

The department’s prohibition notice, issued on Monday, prevents anyone from entering the building “until all the stagnant sewage is removed and all contaminated surfaces decontaminated and an air quality assessment is conducted to indicate no biological contaminants in the air”.

Emfuleni employees say they have for months been exposed to the unbearable stench from the constant sewage spills in the building’s basement. There is also concern that the building may be structurally damaged.

The closure follows a protest by Emfuleni employees, who halted work over the unsafe working conditions after their complaints were ignored for months. For months, employees have fallen ill and been booked off sick by doctors following prolonged exposure to the sewage.

Who owns the building and why did they allow it to deteriorate to this point? Why didn’t Emfuleni intervene earlier when employees first raised this? How much rent does Emfuleni pay for this unsafe building?

Emuleni has now announced that the staff will be relocated and directed customers to other payment methods.


Picture: OUTA

OUTA is a proudly South African civil action organisation, that is purely crowd funded. Our work is supported by ordinary citizens who are passionate about holding government accountable and ensuring our taxes are used to the benefit of all South Africans.