The Department of Public Works and Infrastructure says the South African Police Service (SAPS) headquarters at Telkom Towers in Pretoria will be renovated and upgraded as part of its Build Operate Transfer programme.
Hundreds of SAPS members were removed from the building three weeks ago after it was deemed unsafe for occupation.
The police unions have also expressed outrage at the state of the building and demanded that it be renovated, claiming that it endangers the health and well-being of their members.
Public Works and Infrastructure Deputy Minister, Bernice Swarts says, “The construction is going to happen through the renovate operate transfers. So the Telkom Towers is going to be up and running.”
“But in the time that SAPS has left it, we cannot actually say that there is already progress. But we can say that the progress that is actually there is the intensification of planning to implement the holistic fixing of the building so that it can be occupied.”
In February, Deputy General Secretary of Public Industry at Solidarity, Helgard Cronjé, said the poor condition of the police national head office building at Telkom Towers in Pretoria shows that the SAPS does not care about its employees’ safety.
The building was bought by SAPS eight years ago and renovated for nearly R900 million.
