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Driven by greed and profit — build it and they will come, or build it and they will die?

Marianne Thamm
By Marianne Thamm
10 Sep 2024
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A solid construction industry should aim for prosperity and posterity, not profit at any cost.

Undocumented foreign migrants worked on his building sites and he sourced second-rate supplies and materials – from concrete and steel to Formica – from criminal cartels, all in pursuit of excessive profit margins.

He flouted city regulations, used patronage networks to push deals through legal and financial red tape, and in the process became one of the most famous and allegedly richest real estate developers in the US. Then he became its 45th president in 2016.

He is in many ways the poster boy for the construction industry all over the globe, including South Africa, where many projects are driven by greed and profit rather than any ideal of leaving something of lasting quality, benefit or beauty.

The property market, because of the large margins that can be made quickly, is ground zero for a certain type of grifter willing to sacrifice safety and health for personal wealth. And in this equation human beings are expendable, especially if they are migrants.

In 2007, Ukrainian immigrant Yuriy Vanchytsky, a father of three, was decapitated after plunging 42 stories while working on Donald Trump’s “ultra-luxury” SoHo Hotel tower site in New York City. The framework around freshly poured concrete collapsed.

Read more: Remembering the 16 people who have died in construction accidents

The City’s department of buildings issued four violations against the general contractor. That year, deaths from construction accidents doubled in the city, which set up task forces to increase inspections after 43 workers died in “the deadliest year in a decade”.

The Associated Press at the time wrote: “Officials say the rising costs of materials such as steel and concrete – and the call by employers and residents weary of construction noise to finish jobs quickly – can pressure the construction industry to work too fast.”

George building disaster


As deadly disasters go, the collapse in May of an apartment block being built at 75 Victoria Street in George, during which 34 people were crushed to death, has been the deadliest in at least a decade in South Africa.

That is a lot of souls who are mourned by family, friends and other loved ones. And it is a blot on the industry.

Alan Winde, the Western Cape’s premier, announced this week that an update had been provided to his office about the provincial government’s continuing investigation into the George tragedy. He said the findings of various investigations had to be consolidated to arrive at “an overall understanding” of the collapse. There can be no concealing where the buck stops in this instance, and the longer it takes to pin down the guilty, the less likely the construction industry culture will change.

However, concerns about safety and health in the industry have been highlighted for several years now. John Smallwood, a professor in construction management at Nelson Mandela University, has written that it “faces a critical need to overhaul its health and safety protocols”.

Analysis by the South African Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, of which Smallwood is a member, indicated that one of the most pressing concerns in the construction sector was the high accident and fatality rates.

Read more: South African construction safety needs major overhaul

“There is no such thing as an ‘accident’,” Smallwood said, noting that what is termed an accident is often the result of “management failures”.

In fact, unplanned events “are meticulously planned by default through actions or omissions, underscoring the need for a shift in how the industry approaches safety”, he said.

The Federated Employers Mutual Assurance Company, which transacts workmen’s compensation insurance for the construction industry, noted a fatality rate of 17.5 per 100,000 workers South Africa in 2022. This was significantly higher than the 2.1 per 100,000 workers in the Australian and UK construction sectors for 2021 and 2022/23, respectively.

Dam busters


On Thursday, 8 August, the wall of a dam outside Malmesbury in the Western Cape breached during flash floods, affecting two neighbouring dams and resulting in severe flooding to parts of Riverlands, Chatsworth and Dassenberg.

Significant damage was caused to homes, properties and infrastructure, and a subsequent investigation by the Department of Water and Sanitation found evidence that four collapsed Swartland dams had been constructed without a licence.

Water and Sanitation Minister Pemmy Majodina has indicated that the action taken against the Department of Land Reform and Rural Development would include financial compensation for damage to the infrastructure.

Read more: ‘Screaming’ Riverlands residents flee as fourth dam bursts near Western Cape town

Smallwood’s research has highlighted that respect for workers is a crucial issue.

“Workers exposed to hazards and risks are people with a body, mind and soul, who invariably have a partner, a family, and are derived from a community,” he stated as he advocated improved working conditions as a “manifestation of respect”. He has called for reforms to improve health and safety in the South African construction sector.

Adding to the chaos in the industry is the construction mafia seeking to siphon off even more from building projects and creating a climate for future disaster.

Trump’s empire was built on cutting corners. That he has reached such a high office is regrettable, but the moral scaffolding that props him up has begun to crumble. DM

This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, which is available countrywide for R35.

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