Another fire at SABC's radio park complex sees building evacuated after blaze starts in ground floor lift pit a day after finance boss warns broadcaster's dilapidated buildings and studios are in urgent need of upgrade and repair.

by Thinus Ferreira

The latest fire at the South African public broadcaster broke out on Thursday afternoon just before 13:00 at its radio complex in Auckland Park, prompting the evacuation of the building, after the last fire in the same building five years ago in June 2019.

The fire comes a day after the SABC's finance boss warned that the broadcaster's dilapidated buildings and studios are in urgent need of long-overdue infrastructure investment 

It took a fire rescue services team of 12 people an hour to extinguish the blaze after a fire alarm went off at 12:40 causing an evacuation of the 33-storey building.

According to Robert Mulaudzi, Johannesburg emergency services (EMS) spokesperson, the latest SABC fire started in the lift pit area on the ground floor of the building, close to where a lot of paper were being stored. 

No injuries were reported and the cause of the fire is not yet known, although SABC staffers said it smelled like "an electrical fire".

According to Mulaidzi the SABC must urgently improve its management and administration.

The fire at the SABC comes just a day after Yolande van Biljon, SABC chief financial officer, told parliament that the South African public broadcaster's buildings and studio facilities at Auckland Park are in a dilapidated state and that millions of rand are needed to renovate the buildings and to bring the studios back up to standard again.

Mmoni Seapolelo, SABC spokesperson, in a statement, said that "The SABC can confirm a fire incident at its headquarters in radio campus in Auckland Park" and that "staff members have been evacuated from the affected building and an investigation into what caused the fire is also underway."

In a second statement on Thursday at 17:36 she said that the building has "been declared safe by EMS" and that "electricity supply has also been restored".

South Africa's Parliament TV channel on DStv off air after devastating fire at parliament building in Cape Town.

by Thinus Ferreira

South Africa's Parliament TV channel carried on MultiChoice's DStv went off air on Sunday during the fire that ravaged the National Assembly and other sections at the country's parliament complex in Cape Town.

After Sunday's fire started, Parliament TV, carried on MultiChoice's DStv channel 408, first ceased programming, then added a "programming interrupted" blue screen notification.

Later, the Parliament TV channel feed was shut down by MultiChoice, with the channel now displaying a "channel closed" notification and the electronic programme guide (EPG) content removed.

With South Africa's parliament in recess, Parliament TV was not showing any live content but has been rebroadcasting various sessions and meetings of different portfolio committees from 2021.

On Sunday as fire ravaged parts of parliament's Nasional Assembly and other sections of the building, Parliament TV's broadcast on DStv was cut. It was replaced by a blue screen notification saying "Sorry about the interruption to your viewing. Our teams will get you back to your favourite show as soon as we can. Thanks for understanding."

Later on Sunday MultiChoice cut the channel's feed with Parliament TV that is now "closed" and the EPG simply displaying an "Important Message", saying: "We are currently experiencing technical difficulties. Regular programming will resume as soon as possible."

Besides DStv, Parliament TV is also streamed online on YouTube where the channel still streamed the funeral service of Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu on Saturday. On Sunday Parliament TV uploaded a short message to YouTube of Patricia De Lille, minister of public works, briefing the media on the fire at parliament.

MultiChoice told TVwithThinus on Monday afternoon in response to a media query that "Parliament TV stopped airing on Sunday at 10:10 and due to the fire at the parliament building, as programming is delivered from parliament's premises. The channel was placed on ‘Not Running’ status and the electronic programme guide (EPG) updated to reflect technical issues.  Parliament TV has now been restored".

After yet another SABC fire broke out staffers of the South African public broadcaster in Mbombela are left without a building to work in.

After yet another SABC fire broke out staffers of the embattled South African public broadcaster in Mbombela, Mpumalanga have been left without a building to work in while the SABC radio station Ligwalagwala FM didn't go off the air but has been affected.

SABC interim board members, current board members and top executives have warned parliament and the minister of communications, Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams, for over a year that the lives of SABC personnel are being endangered since the struggling broadcasters hovering on the verge of financial collapse, can't afford to do and stopped doing routine maintenance at its buildings.

The latest fire impacting on the SABC's operation happened at the City Centre offices of the SABC in Mbombela where SABC staffers were evacuated and told to work from home and elsewhere using their laptops and not to return to the building.

The cause of the fire isn't yet known. Nobody was injured.

Ligwalagwala FM has remained on-air with the SABC implementing unspecified "temporary measures".

Vuyo Mthembu, SABC spokesperson, says  "The SABC can confirm that a fire broke out at its leased Mpumalanga offices and the fire emergency services from the Mbombela City Council were able to contain the fire".

"The health and safety of our employees is always a key priority and the SABC is happy to report that employees were evacuated in time and no injuries were reported. Investigations are being carried out to confirm the cause of the fire."

"Employees will re-occupy the offices once the offices have been declared safe. Our radio station Ligwalagwala FM is still able to broadcast as temporary measures have been put in place, however, operations have been affected pending the completion of the investigations".

In June 2019 a fire in the cafeteria in the SABC's Radio Park building prompted the evacuation of staff with 15 people who were taken to hospital for smoke inhalation.

The same Radio Park building was evacuated in May 2019 during a diesel spill that saw thousands of litres of diesel flood the building and down the elevator shaft when a power outage caused the building to switch to its back-up power generator located on the 15th floor. "A failure of the equipment led to the diesel tank overflowing," the SABC said.

SABC executives, as well as former and current SABC board members have been warning for months that the SABC has stopped and failed to do maintenance due to the broadcaster's precarious financial position with the SABC hovering on the edge of collapse and warning that the SABC's "Day Zero" and a black-on-air situation could happen any day.

In November 2018, the former SABC board member Mathatha Tsedu told and warned parliament and the minister of communications that the SABC is turning into a potential death trap.

"We haven't maintained our buildings for a very long time. Last week a huge chunk fell from the reception of the Radio Park building. The people responsible for the maintenance of our buildings have been warning that there are cracks there - something is going to happen. But we don't have the money. We're only dealing with what is broadcast critical," he said.

"If there is a crack up there and it doesn't stop us from going on air, we will not fix it until that rock falls down. And one day, it is going to fall on someone."

SABC fire prompts evacuation of Radio Park building after cafeteria blaze, 15 people taken to hospital after smoke inhalation.

A fire at the SABC that broke out on Tuesday morning prompted the evacuation of its Radio Park building with 9 (now 15) people who were taken to hospital for smoke inhalation - the second mass evacuation at the cash-strapped South African public broadcaster within two months.

The fire broke out inside the cafeteria located close to the studios of the 5FM and Metro FM radio stations, prompting the evacuation of the building.

The fire - apparently electrical - was extinguished, although the cause has not yet been determined or confirmed.

Similar to last month, the evacuation prompted immediate changes to the production of the SABC's radio stations and their programming, including the Afrikaans station RSG that switched to producing from its Cape Town studio in Sea Point.

There's not been a statement from the SABC yet.

The same Radio Park building was evacuated last month during a diesel spill that saw thousands of litres of diesel flood the building and down the elevator shaft when a power outage caused the building to switch to its back-up power generator located on the 15th floor. "A failure of the equipment led to the diesel tank overflowing," the SABC said last month.

SABC executives, as well as former and current SABC board members have been warning for months that the SABC has stopped and failed to do maintenance due to the broadcaster's precarious financial position with the SABC hovering on the edge of collapse and warning that the SABC's "Day Zero" and a black-on-air situation could happen any day.

In November 2018, the former SABC board member Mathatha Tsedu told and warned parliament and the minister of communications that the SABC is turning into a potential death trap.

"We haven't maintained our buildings for a very long time. Last week a huge chunk fell from the reception of the Radio Park building. The people responsible for the maintenance of our buildings have been warning that there are cracks there - something is going to happen. But we don't have the money. We're only dealing with what is broadcast critical," he said.

"If there is a crack up there and it doesn't stop us from going on air, we will not fix it until that rock falls down. And one day, it is going to fall on someone."

On Tuesday afternoon, Jonathan Thekiso, the SABC's head of human resources, came to address SABC staffers who were milling about outside the entrance of the Radio Park building, to tell them that the building has been declared to be safe again and that they should go back to work.

ER24 staffers, along with other private services, rushed to the SABC where they alongside the City of Johannesburg Fire Services that was already on the scene, started helping patients. SABC staffers were treated on site in a triage area, and were also moved to various hospitals for treatment.


UPDATE Tuesday 25 June 2019  15:05 - The SABC in a statement on Tuesday afternoon says that its "Radio Park building has been declared safe for occupation, following the fire which broke out earlier today". 

"An initial assessment indicates that the fire started in a secluded area of the canteen, where an electrical distribution board is located. The fire was contained almost immediately," says Vuto Mthembu, SABC spokesperson. 

"All employees occupying the building were successfully evacuated; however a few employees have since been taken to hospital for observation as a result of inhalation of smoke. The canteen is currently closed for further assessment and operations continue as normal."


UPDATE Tuesday 25 June 2019  17:27 - ER24 spokesperson Russel Meiring says "15 people have been hospitalised following the SABC fire at Auckland Park.