20 still missing in George building collapse as Public Works’ Zikalala visits site

Speaking to families of workers caught in the George building collapse on 13 May, Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure Sihle Zikalala described the incident as the “biggest tragedy in the construction industry since 1994”.

As of 6pm on Monday, the death toll stood at 32. A total of 61 people have been removed from the rubble, with 20 still unaccounted for. Twelve of those rescued are currently in hospital.

Zikalala said his department would be supporting the Department of Employment and Labour in its investigation of the collapse.

Read more in Daily Maverick: No one knows how many people were inside collapsed George building – Bheki Cele

“We want to ensure a thorough investigation … No one must be protected,” he said. 

“Accountability is what we want to ensure – accountability at the level of government [and] at the level of those who are project initiators, as well as contractors that were involved.

“We are responsible for professionals within the built environment and if something happened among those who are … professionals within the built environment, we will not hesitate to take decisive actions.”

Zikalala said that the local municipality also needed to strengthen its systems to ensure that plans were thoroughly assessed and approved at each stage of construction.

“Out of this incident, we are all going to strengthen regulations that govern these industries so that it protects those who are workers and the citizens,” he said.

“At a public level, we are quite certain that any project that is done by an organ of the state goes through serious checks through our Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB). But we also have a number of other entities, such as the Council for the Built Environment, the Engineering Council of South Africa … Our municipalities are responsible for ensuring that they certify and approve the planning, the implementation…”

Private developers also needed to comply with all regulations to protect people’s livelihoods, Zikalala told the families.

“We need to ensure that companies are checked and assessed [to see] whether they can undertake the level of work and projects that they are given. We are attending to that as we are working on amending the CIDB Act … It’s at an advanced stage,” he said.

“But that is for the future. For this incident, we will be with you. We pledge our solidarity with you. We will ensure that all the services you need are provided.”

Zikalala said that the “project initiators” and the companies that employed people at the George construction site had a “social responsibility” to be present and support the affected workers.

“Those that were employed were employed by them. They are the ones who should be here and ensure that they support the affected families,” he said. 

He pointed out that in many cases, one worker was supporting many people within a family, meaning their loss affected “not just his kids but several people in the family”.

“Often when these things happen to a department or government, we get subjected to scrutiny – which is correct. But that scrutiny must also be applied to private companies equally,” he said.

“We like to see the economy growing and that’s why in every sector, there are regulations. And those who don’t adhere to regulations must be held accountable. We cannot risk the lives of our people, irrespective of their whereabouts … and irrespective of where they come from.”

Moment of silence

Identification of victims