On Tuesday, 5 August 2014 at around 12h00 midday, the Director-General of the Free State Provincial Government, Kopung Ralikontsane ordered that all public servants must immediately evacuate the government buildings, go home and report for duty the next day, Wednesday, 6 August 2014.
The Director-General further ordered that the Structural Engineers should investigate the safety of occupancy of all buildings including hospitals and any other buildings throughout the Free State. Whilst there are no serious threats to our buildings, the Director-General said that “I want to take no chances but ensure that the safety of occupancy of all government buildings is guaranteed and is based on the reports of the Structural Engineers after their thorough investigations.”
Mr Maditse Soke, the HOD of Public Works and Infrastructure got to work immediately as the tremor was being experienced to ensure the safe evacuation of all personnel at Lebohang Building. His responsibility was to also ensure that the message for immediate evacuation reached everyone else in the government buildings throughout the Free State. “We will not rest until we get the reports of the structural engineers on the safety of occupancy to comply with our mandate and the instruction of the Director-General,” he said.
The evacuation plan in the populous and tallest buildings of the Provincial Government, namely the 23 storey Provincial Government Building (former CR Swarts), 12 Storey Lebohang Building, the populous Bophelo House, was executed without any hassles. Thanks to all our officials for adhering to the rules of evacuation.
The occupancy of government buildings will be determined by the final report and all officials will be assembled and addressed by the Director-General, Kopung Ralikontsane on Wednesday morning, 6 August 2014 at 07h30.
Enquiries:
Mondli Mvambi, Provincial Government Spokesperson
Cell: 072 022 1598
Tel: 051 403 3238
E-mail: mondli.mvambi@fspremier.gov.za
