Groblersdal Employment and Labour department clients cry disservice

GROBLERSDAL – Clients at the Department of Employment and Labour offices in Groblersdal are accusing the officials at the departmental offices in the town of disservice.

The clients are livid that they are having to queue there for long hours, sometimes even for days, without getting help.

When the paper visited the offices, clients lined in long snaking queues outside and said they had been there since the early hours of the morning without accessing any help.

They claimed that officials at the offices showed no interest in providing them help and that some of the officials took frequent breaks, for teatime and lunch, which resulted in them returning home, having spent money they did not afford to access the offices.

“It is a very saddening situation here. People come here in the early hours of the morning and return home without getting help. The officials here seem not to care about serving the people. Some of us even sleep here outside the offices, having travelled from remote rural areas, but we are not getting help. All the officials do is have long teatime and lunch breaks while we are subjected to the elements outside the office. The situation needs serious attention. We hope their seniors come down and see what we have to go through to receive help from the office, said a client who requested anonymity.

Another client, who also requested anonymity, said there have been incidents whereby some of the clients just walked into the offices, without queuing and get help.

“This shows that there is some form of corruption taking place here. I think people are paying some officials to move up the queues. We need help,” said the client.

The other client who spoke to the paper said that there have also been incidents where by frustrated clients fought among themselves as they felt they were being cheated on the queues.

“And when we get to Lebowakgomo offices to get services, we are turned back and told that there is an office in Groblersdal that can help us. This is really frustrating on the clients’ part. This has been going on for years now and the situation is not improving at all and just getting worse,” said the client.

Attempts to get comment from the Department of Employment and Labour were not successful at the time of going to press.