Work has stopped at the department of education’s headquarters in Pretoria, after a fire broke out in the 123 Schoeman Street premises on Thursday.
Sol Plaatje House, which houses both the ministry for basic education and the higher education and training sector, was evacuated on Thursday morning after a fire was discovered on the sixth floor. No injuries were reported.
“Three offices were gutted and there was also some damage to the sixth floor corridor,” said Johan Pieterse of the Pretoria Fire Brigade.
“The offices were completely gutted but at this stage it is too early to speculate on the cause of the fire. An investigation is underway and the cause of the fire should be known by the end of this week.”
Said Granville Whittle, the department’s chief director of national communication told the Teacher the building was closed down due to excessive smoke and a cleaning team will be sent in once the forensic detectives have completed their investigation into the cause of the blaze.
“The affected offices were housing staff in the FET sector and fortunately the fire did not affect any sensitive information.
“We are hoping to re-open the offices tomorrow once all the cleaning has been done,” said Whittle.