Woman Collapses in Long Queue at Pretoria Labour Office

A woman and her baby were taken by ambulance to a health facility after she appeared to have collapsed while waiting in a long queue at the Department of Labour in Pretoria city centre on Friday.

A Pretoria mother was taken to a health facility on Friday after collapsing while waiting to apply for unemployment insurance. She had been waiting for hours at the labour office in the city centre.

The woman was waiting in line with her baby, apparently to apply for UIF, when she suddenly fell ill though her exact condition is unconfirmed. She remained conscious and was taken to the nearest health facility by ambulance. By 10am the two queues outside the office were still very long, and the one for UIF stretched down Skinner Street.

GroundUp was at the office on Friday after readers complained of having to wait in long lines in Pretoria because the department’s office in Mamelodi has been closed due to “safety concerns” since August last year. The Mamelodi labour office is inside gated premises which also has offices of some City of Tshwane officials.

This has meant that people in Mamelodi and neighbouring communities wanting to claim from the Unemployed Insurance Fund (UIF) or to report work-related problems have had to travel to the already overburdened city centre labour office.

Mamelodi residents in line at the labour office on Friday told GroundUp that they were frustrated by the long queues in Pretoria. They claim that staff members at the Pretoria labour centre often turn them back to get additional documents when applying for UIF, which means they have to spend more money on travel.

Joel Machabaphala from Mamelodi said he lost his job as a security guard last year. He said it costs him R110 for a round trip each time to the Pretoria labour office.

“I arrived at 7am and found a very long queue of people. I managed to get into the office after more than three hours, but staff told me to come back on Monday [20 January] to complete my application. I’m worried because I have to spend more money travelling to this office,” he said.

Retrenched Mamelodi resident Mzamo Mlotshwa said, “I borrowed money from people to travel to these offices.”

“The department must open that [Mamelodi] office because there are many other municipal workers in the same yard, and those people are safe there,” he said.

GroundUp sent questions to the spokesperson for the Department of Employment and Labour, Teboho Thejane, on 17 January. He promised to respond by Monday morning. The article will be updated with his response once received.

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