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Cape Town - Traumatised SABC workers are crying foul and claiming that they have been subjected to working with a "pungent sewer-effluence in the air".
The Media Workers Association of South Africa (Mwasa), one of the unions representing SABC workers, is airing a grievance which it says is making it impossible for SABC staff at the public broadcaster's office in Nelspruit to work.
Mwasa says that traumatised workers in the SABC's rented offices in Nelspruit can't cope with the foul smell of the sewerage odours they have to endure. For weeks Mwasa has claimed that the SABC's Nelspruit offices is simply not fit for human habitation while extensive construction work is taking place in and around the building.
Last week SABC staff refused to enter the SABC building in Nelspruit with Mwasa calling it "a deathtrap" and saying it could "collapse any time". Mwasa general secretary Tuwani Gumani called the building "rotten" and a "mining site".
Air quality
The SABC issued a press release responding to the claims of the building's unsafety during construction and said "a structural engineer has confirmed that the building has no structural defects and is therefore considered safe".
This came after the department of labour in Mpumalanga did a routine inspection in June "and indentified issues inside and outside the building" which are now receiving attention. The SABC says that according to the department of labour there is now "nothing structurally wrong with the building. Entrance with the scaffolding did not pose a danger and it's safe".
SABC workers are not happy and are now kicking up a stink about the stench surrounding the building, saying it's impossible to work. Mwasa called the SABC "uncaring" and is promising "strong action" over "the experiences of the pungent sewer-effluence hanging in the air inside and outside the building".
"We just cannot allow anybody to be subjected to this state of affairs whilst we squander money to celebrate the SABC's 75 years," says Mwasa.
The SABC has so far not responded to the workers' complaint about the air quality.
The Media Workers Association of South Africa (Mwasa), one of the unions representing SABC workers, is airing a grievance which it says is making it impossible for SABC staff at the public broadcaster's office in Nelspruit to work.
Mwasa says that traumatised workers in the SABC's rented offices in Nelspruit can't cope with the foul smell of the sewerage odours they have to endure. For weeks Mwasa has claimed that the SABC's Nelspruit offices is simply not fit for human habitation while extensive construction work is taking place in and around the building.
Last week SABC staff refused to enter the SABC building in Nelspruit with Mwasa calling it "a deathtrap" and saying it could "collapse any time". Mwasa general secretary Tuwani Gumani called the building "rotten" and a "mining site".
Air quality
The SABC issued a press release responding to the claims of the building's unsafety during construction and said "a structural engineer has confirmed that the building has no structural defects and is therefore considered safe".
This came after the department of labour in Mpumalanga did a routine inspection in June "and indentified issues inside and outside the building" which are now receiving attention. The SABC says that according to the department of labour there is now "nothing structurally wrong with the building. Entrance with the scaffolding did not pose a danger and it's safe".
SABC workers are not happy and are now kicking up a stink about the stench surrounding the building, saying it's impossible to work. Mwasa called the SABC "uncaring" and is promising "strong action" over "the experiences of the pungent sewer-effluence hanging in the air inside and outside the building".
"We just cannot allow anybody to be subjected to this state of affairs whilst we squander money to celebrate the SABC's 75 years," says Mwasa.
The SABC has so far not responded to the workers' complaint about the air quality.
