By Anita Dangazele
The Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Eastern Cape is accusing the Department of Social Development of wasting millions of rands on cleaning services for East London offices that have been closed for over two years.
The offices in East London’s CBD were abandoned after reports of a flea infestation and gas fumes from batteries. Despite this, the department allegedly spent R730,001 on specialised cleaning and R3.6 million on document management.
DA MPL Marlene Ewers said the closure has left thousands of vulnerable people in Buffalo City and surrounding areas without access to critical services.
“These are individuals and families seeking assistance with grant applications, food parcels, pensions, and other essential support – left stranded in a province grappling with widespread poverty and a deepening cost-of-living crisis,” she said.
This is not the first time the DA has criticised the department over unused offices. In December 2023, the party protested over three abandoned buildings. The Zwelitsha office was abandoned in 2019 due to leaking formaldehyde gas, while Komga’s office was closed in 2021 for being too small. The East London office was shut due to flea infestations and gas fumes.
Provincial Social Development spokesperson Mzukisi Solani said the East London offices had been cleaned and declared safe but were later closed again after employees reported discomfort.
“Employees continued to report itchiness and aches of various kinds, especially when the paper files that were precautionally removed earlier in suspicion that they could be contaminated were returned to the offices. The department could not ignore that development,” he said.
Solani added that the department decided to remove paper files to make the offices safe and plans to digitise its documents to prevent contamination from affecting staff and operations.
Pictured above: East London Department of Social Development service office.
Source: Facebook
