The Public Servants Association (PSA) of South Africa has expressed its shock over the unspeakable conditions that general workers at the Tshilwavhusiku Magistrate's Court are subjected to.
Representatives of the PSA visited the court on 2 March 2022 as part of its campaign to assess the Department of Justice in Limpopo's compliance with the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA).
The situation at Tshilwavhusiku, however, is apparently not entirely new for the Vhembe District. Last year, the union intervened and prevented a possible future disaster from happening at the Musina Magistrate's Court, where the building's walls and roof were dangerously near collapse in places. The PSA saw to it that the court was closed until the building had been brought up to standard.
"It appears that the Department of Justice has not learnt anything. We were very shocked about the conditions at this [Tshilwavhusiku] court. An unused toilet is used as both the storeroom, kitchen, rest room and change room for general workers, which shows an utter disrespect on the department's part. It is unthinkable that the department, who is responsible for promoting constitutional values among others, can be so irresponsible and contravene the employees' right to dignity by allowing them to store their food and eat in a toilet," said Patricia Matlhadisa, PSA's acting provincial manager.
The situation was attributed to the lack of space and the fact that the Tshilwavhusiku Magistrate's Court was identified for renovations years ago, which had still had not because of a lack of funds.
Matlhadisa said this not only contravened the OHSA in terms of the health and safety of employees, as well as the Constitution of the country regarding the right to dignity, but also displayed the department's total lack of respect for its employees.
The PSA called on the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development to institute a comprehensive audit of the state of all court buildings in Limpopo as the conditions at Musina and Tshilwavhusiku were an embarrassment to the department.
The Department of Justice had not responded to this paper's media enquiry at the time of our going to press.