Striking Nehawu workers stand accused of going on a rampage last night and attacking, slashing, and burning property in the social development department’s Buffalo City Metro nerve centre.
Smoke billowed from the multi-storey complex in Oxford Street late yesterday afternoon and the fire department raced to the scene.
By the time the fire was brought under control, the mob, allegedly striking unionists, had torched a records registry room, destroying precious funding documents.
Mzukisi Solani, the department’s provincial spokesman, speaking from the scene at the complex in the CBD, said that soon after 3pm, about 40 people barged into the building, chasing away security guards.
The mob kicked in a back door and set fire to a storeroom and the registry. The fire spread to a passageway and another office.
At that stage there were only four people in the complex and they managed to flee the building said Solani, who hastily travelled from Bhisho and got to the building last night where he spoke to officials.
The mob also broke a padlock and entered a yard where they proceeded to slash 32 tyres on eight government vehicles.
Solani said the destruction had been wreaked in defiance of a court order interdicting strikers from coming close to the department’s property, engaging in violence and obstructing the work of the department.
“The raging fire has caused considerable damage to our Buffalo City district office.
“The complex houses several offices servicing various local offices around Buffalo City Metro,” he said.
He said there was a lot of water in the building and there was smoke damage.
Solani said the complex administered social welfare payments for BCM’s “most vulnerable and most poor. This is our nerve centre”.
Most of the records torched dealt with funding for community organisations, but he said they were still assessing the damage.
“A lot of it – the records – affect people living in villages in BCM. They dealt with rural folk.
“This is a severe blow.
“Once you hit at social development like this you are hitting at the belly of the poor. This is now between them and the poorest of the poor.”
He said the mob were taking part in a national strike which had a number of issues on the table.
In BCM, the strike was in solidarity with the national cause.
lAttempts to get a response from Nehawu in the Eastern Cape and nationally at the time of writing were unsuccessful.
No responses were received after phone calls and e-mails. — mikel@dispatch.co.za
Nerve centre for BCM welfare payments burnt
Smoke billowed from the multi-storey complex in Oxford Street late yesterday afternoon and the fire department raced to the scene.
By the time the fire was brought under control, the mob, allegedly striking unionists, had torched a records registry room, destroying precious funding documents.
Mzukisi Solani, the department’s provincial spokesman, speaking from the scene at the complex in the CBD, said that soon after 3pm, about 40 people barged into the building, chasing away security guards.
The mob kicked in a back door and set fire to a storeroom and the registry. The fire spread to a passageway and another office.
At that stage there were only four people in the complex and they managed to flee the building said Solani, who hastily travelled from Bhisho and got to the building last night where he spoke to officials.
The mob also broke a padlock and entered a yard where they proceeded to slash 32 tyres on eight government vehicles.
Solani said the destruction had been wreaked in defiance of a court order interdicting strikers from coming close to the department’s property, engaging in violence and obstructing the work of the department.
“The raging fire has caused considerable damage to our Buffalo City district office.
“The complex houses several offices servicing various local offices around Buffalo City Metro,” he said.
He said there was a lot of water in the building and there was smoke damage.
Solani said the complex administered social welfare payments for BCM’s “most vulnerable and most poor. This is our nerve centre”.
Most of the records torched dealt with funding for community organisations, but he said they were still assessing the damage.
“A lot of it – the records – affect people living in villages in BCM. They dealt with rural folk.
“This is a severe blow.
“Once you hit at social development like this you are hitting at the belly of the poor. This is now between them and the poorest of the poor.”
He said the mob were taking part in a national strike which had a number of issues on the table.
In BCM, the strike was in solidarity with the national cause.
lAttempts to get a response from Nehawu in the Eastern Cape and nationally at the time of writing were unsuccessful.
No responses were received after phone calls and e-mails. — mikel@dispatch.co.za
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