Staff and services of the North West Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in Mahikeng remain scattered across district and local area offices after the department missed another deadline to relocate to permanent office accommodation.
The nearby TEB Office Park had been identified and secured as suitable office space for staff occupancy in June 2026. However, the Department of Employment and Labour issued contravention and prohibition notices against the building.
The notices relate to malfunctioning lifts, inadequate emergency exit doors, the absence of a structural integrity report, and outstanding certification for the air-conditioning system.
Chairperson of the North West Provincial Legislature’s Portfolio Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development, Sipho Dial, says the delay is affecting service delivery.
Dial says, “As the Portfolio Committee, our main concern is that if we do not have offices where the end users, who are the farmers, can access the department to get the necessary services, it means the department is not going to be able to live up to the expectations. The owner is insisting that he is taking care of his buildings. He has been sent information on the issues he must correct. He has indicated that there are issues that he is paying greater attention to, and we have then agreed that we must convene another meeting in the coming week, together with all stakeholders.”
North West MEC for Agriculture and Rural Development, Madoda Sambatha, says the department can only wait for the landlord to address the compliance issues.
Sambatha says, “Where we are, we’re still waiting outside because Labour, Public Works, and the owners are dealing with compliance of the building. Otherwise, that building is not owned by us. We were tenants because a building we own has been closed by Labour for non-compliance. All we want is that our staff of the provincial department must be based in offices where monitoring of performance of work can be done properly.”
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