The Bloemfontein Government Mortuary remains partially closed after the department of employment and labour upheld a prohibition order following concerns over unsafe working conditions.
The Public Servants Association welcomed the intervention after employees raised concerns about a “non-functional ventilation system, extreme temperatures in the dissection hall, lack of hot water and faulty electrical wiring”.
Following an inspection on 15 July, the operational dissection hall was ordered to close, while the administration block remains open. However, Free State department of health spokesperson Mondli Mvambi said progress is being made to restore services. “The department of health has recently been dealing with increasing and sophisticated acts of theft and vandalism by the public and in some instances implicating the employees of the department. The theft of copper cables at the forensic mortuary has resulted in catastrophic delays of a critical service to the public.”
He explained that the air handling unit (AHU), which provides heating, cooling and extraction in the dissection area, has already been installed and is ready for commissioning. “The required cabling is not available in Bloemfontein and had to be ordered from Johannesburg,” said Mvambi.
The delivery was expected on 22 July, the day of print. He added once the cabling is installed and connected, commissioning of the AHU can proceed, allowing the department to move closer to resolving the facility’s operational challenges.
