The Department of Employment and Labour has provisionally closed the biggest Labour Centre in Pretoria situated at 239 Concilium Building at Nana Sita Street and the Brits Labour Centre in the North West.
The Pretoria Labour Centre is among the two Labour Centres in Gauteng to provisionally shut doors on Thursday after one of the supervisors tested positive for COVID-19.
The second office is Alberton Labour Centre. Members of the community serviced by these two centres are advised to utilize the nearby offices to access services.
The department says all contacts will be traced and managed according to COVID-19 guidelines and protocols.
“Our fundamental priority is the health and safety of all our employees. As part of our precautionary measures, the two centres will not be servicing clients while the deep cleaning process is carried out.
“Those who came into contact with the infected official were advised to self isolate for a period of 14 days as per COVID-19 regulations,” the Department of Labour and Employment said in a statement.
Director-General of the Department Thobile Lamati has previously stated that the safety of staff remain paramount.
“Our officials are an important cog of the working South African economy and as such, we will ensure that they are as safe as possible,” he said.
The centres are expected to reopen on Monday, 6 July, and will function under a reduced capacity as some employees will be in isolation.
“The department is deeply concerned by the growing number of infected officials and the burden it puts to nearby offices.
“We are painfully aware that the closure of some of our offices means overcrowding and long queues at the neighboring ones hence, we apologise in advance for the inconvenience and ask our esteemed clients to be patient while they visits those centres. While we mention the long waiting times, as brought by the high demand for service, we also confident in the capabilities of our dedicated staff members,” the department said.
The Nearest Labour Centres in Pretoria are:
- Atteridgeville Labour Centre at WF Nkomo and Kalafong Road
- Mamelodi Labour Centre situated at Mini Munitoria in Mamelodi West
- Bronkhorstspruit Labour Centre at 40 Botha Street in Bronkhorstspruit
- Garankuwa Labour Centre at Setlalentoa Street in Zone 5 in Garankuwa
- Soshanguve Labour Centre at 2322 Block F Neat &Fast building next to NAFCOC in Soshanguve
Alberton clients can visit the following offices:
- Brakpan Labour Centre situated at Cnr Voortrekker and High Street
- Boksburg is at Lakeside building, Bank Street,
- Benoni Labour Centre is at 10 Woburn Avenue and
- Kempton park Labour Centre is at Trust bank building, Cnr Voortrekker Rd and Wolf Street.
Clients are encouraged to use the department’s online services on www.labour.gov.za.
Brits Labour Centre
The Brits Labour Centre in the North West has also been temporarily closed following a confirmed COVID-19 case.
This, according to the department, is in order to allow employees who had been in contact with the affected employee to self-isolate and for the necessary cleaning protocols for the office to be carried out.
According to Andile Makapela, the Chief Director: Provincial Operations in the North West, the affected employee is one of the officials who have been in office since the department opened officially for the public on 8 June 2020.
“He is one of the key officials who were in office since we opened, therefore the necessary protocols are being followed to ensure that all the affected employees receive the necessary support which would include psychosocial counselling,” Makapela said.
For the Brits Labour Centre, the department has very good working relations with the local Department of Health office, whereby they have been on site on a daily basis carrying out the required screenings.
They are onboard and the tracking and tracing process is being carried out to ensure that all the people that were in contact with the employee are found and that the necessary health protocols are followed.
Though the department is concerned about the backlog on service delivery as a result of temporary closure of offices, of paramount importance is the health and safety of its clients and employees.
The temporary closure of the Brits Labour Centre brings a total number of offices closed in the North West this week to two, Klerksdorp Labour Centre was closed on the 02 July 2020.
An announcement would be made with regard to the opening of these offices which is expected to be some time next week.
Clients are encouraged to use the department’s online services found on www.labour.gov.za. – SAnews.gov.za
