DCAS devastated by loss of regional office through fire

The Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport (DCAS) is devastated at the loss of our regional library service office in Beaufort West due to a fire on Monday night.

This office housed thousands of books for distribution across the region and was the administrative support office for library service staff in Central Karoo. The loss of books and equipment is devastating to this region.

The cause of the fire is currently unknown and thankfully no staff were on the premises at the time of the fire. We are grateful that no staff members were injured.

Head of Department Guy Redman said: “The loss of any government services office is always devastating but more so when it is an office which brings books, knowledge and learning to people in an area where travelling distances between towns are long and transport is limited for the surrounding communities. This is a great tragedy for our department and we will look at ways to mitigate the challenge of not having the infrastructure in Beaufort West while we look at next steps.”

The department will wait on the report as to the cause of the fire and will work together with our other local offices to find a way to continue service delivery in the area.