Hundreds of thousands of rands worth of damage was caused when some parts of the ceiling at offices under construction at Vhembe district municipality caved in, causing extensive damage to furniture and computers.

The damage is believed to have been caused when certain sections of the roof caved in, leaving most offices resembling water streams. The incident, which occurred on Tuesday morning, caused services to come to a standstill as municipal staff members were forced to go back home because their offices were full of water.

A visit by this paper late in the afternoon revealed that services had been suspended for the whole day, with a tape barring people from entering the building. Municipal cleaners could be seen all over the building, trying to mop up the waterlogged offices. The most seriously affected items were computers and expensive furniture.

The municipal buildings have been under renovation for some time now, with the previous contractor having left the work incomplete. It is alleged that management had been advised to look for alternative accommodation while renovations were underway, but they did not take the advice seriously.

Timpson Tshililo, the SAMWU Vhembe chairperson, said the union had engaged management on the issue on a number of occasions, but each time, management refused to listen. “We have advised management here since last year that it is not safe for workers to work in a building that is being renovated and that workers would contract diseases from inhaling dust, but all of this fell on deaf ears,” said Tshililo. Tshililo said they should have given the contractor space to work as they are not able to work properly during the day while offices are being used.

“These people would have completed the work by now, had the management listened to us. Now services have been halted and our people are suffering, because of the ignorance of a few individuals,” he said. According to Tshililo, the union will continue engaging in talks with the municipality on the issue.

Matodzi Ralushai, Vhembe municipality´s spokesperson, confirmed the incident, but said it affected only a small section of the building. "We have contractors here who are busy renovating our buildings and a leak has developed somewhere in the roof, which caused the ceiling to cave in. As of now we cannot say how much damage was caused, but the situation is under control, with almost all the debris and water cleared by our staff," he said.

He said the contractor was busy fixing the hole in the roof that was causing water to flow inside, but they were experiencing difficulties as power had also been cut in the offices. He said workers were expected to be back on Thursday. He conceded that services would be compromised as the offices are the headquarters of the whole district, but said they had some other offices located outside the area which would be assisting the community.