Families of workers missing after George building collapse express fears

Members of the George community and families of those yet to be pulled from the rubble of a collapsed building in George gathered outside the city’s civic center Thursday night, singing songs and praying for the missing. The mood was somber as rescue and recovery efforts at the site entered their third night.

As of 8:00 p.m., the number of people recovered from the rubble remained at 37, of whom eight were dead when found.

The rescue operation has already been going on for 72 hours.
Recovered workers 37
Deceased 8
Hospitalizations 16 (critical), 6 with danger of death and 7 with minor injuries.
44 workers are still missing #GeorgeBuildingCollapse pic.twitter.com/qlSMdIb6hU

– Veve (@LudidiVelani) May 9, 2024

In the early afternoon, the Minister of Employment and Labour, Thulas Nxesi, visited the families of the 44 workers whose whereabouts remained missing. He asked them to provide documentation and photographs of their loved ones so authorities could expedite the process of identifying victims, conduct an investigation and handle any claims that needed to be paid to victims.

He assured those who may be in the country illegally that the request for documentation was not for deportation purposes.

“(Provide) any documents you may have regarding your family member who may have been working here,” he told the families. “We also heard that you are hurt by the fact that the employer (or) the owner has not come to talk to you. “We will try to help facilitate it.”

There have been claims that many of those hired to work at the site were undocumented foreigners. However, at a press conference on Thursday, Lieutenant General Tebello Mosikili, deputy commissioner of the South African Police Service, said: “The investigation is ongoing. We cannot at this time confirm that there are undocumented people among those who were trapped, among those who were rescued.”

Daily Maverick He spoke to family members, including Owenzela Ralarala, whose boyfriend was among the 44 missing workers.

“Communication has been weak,” he said. “They did not even contact us as family members to inform us about the incident. We came here when we heard people talking about it.

“The authorities are advising us and giving us food, but we do not know the status of our relatives. Are they dead, still trapped under rubble, or alive in a hospital? These are the questions we have. “The wait is painful.”

Edinah Mhango said Daily Maverick that his brother-in-law Paul Matwawana had been working for a subcontractor at the site for the past six months. She said she had been paid in cash, not through a bank account.

He had never said anything about the condition of the building.

“Maybe it’s because I had no experience and worked as a general worker. As a family, we were hopeful that he would come out alive, but there is no hope now. We are just waiting for the recovery of his body,” he said.

Siphesihle Mehlo, a 21-year-old craftsman studying at a local university, was doing his practical training at the site when the building collapsed. His uncle, Gugulethu Khonono, revealed that one of the survivors had expressed concern about the state of the building before the collapse.

“He mentioned that there were cracks in and around the building, but they were simply covered with cement instead of being properly repaired. The collapse seemed inevitable, but the building owners did not take action due to their greed,” he stated.

He said Mehlo’s father was among the volunteers cleaning the site. “It’s in God’s hands now,” he said. “Although hope is fading, we still believe in the possibility of a miracle.”

Owner of the premises mentioned

At the Thursday afternoon press conference, Nxesi said David Esau, provincial chief inspector of the Department of Employment and Labour, would lead the department’s investigation into the incident.

Esau said: “The day we arrived, we tried to contact the customer, who is the owner of this establishment. The address in our system, we went to that address and it was blocked. We then proceeded to issue a subpoena. And to this day there has been no response from that particular person.

“We will continue with our legal processes and I hear everywhere that (the owner) is contacting people through his lawyers. That’s not our business. He is required by law to contact the department.”

When asked to name the owner and confirm whether his company was in George, Esau said: “If you go to their website, you’ll see it says ‘Company based in George.’ “I will not give any further details on that matter.”

During a press conference on Tuesday, George Mayor Leon van Wyk said the developer in charge of the site was Neo Trend Group, ICE Projects.

Read more at Daily Maverick: ‘I want my son to get out of there’: agonizing vigil for families of those trapped in the rubble of the George building

Theuns Kruger, director of Liatel Developments, the contractor for the collapsed building, told the Jorge Heraldo They promised to cooperate with the authorities to determine the cause of the disaster.

On Thursday, Nxesi said police were in control of the scene. “They will do their own work without hindrance, but at some point the police will hand over… to the Department of Labor, which will be able to begin its own investigations.”

The different departments involved in the investigation must work together and support each other, he said.

“It is not a competition and we cannot play politics with the lives of workers either. This is a stage in which we must put aside our differences. “We know it’s election time… but it’s about the disaster that has hit the working poor.”

Nxesi said the department’s responsibility was the “social protection” of workers. He said authorities would work with the Department of International Relations to collaborate with foreign missions from Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe, as some families of workers caught in the collapse were struggling with language barriers.

“Right now, it’s not about foreigners or nationals. These are human beings, human beings who have rights and whose rights are supposed to be protected, regardless of their status, regardless of their nationality,” Nxesi said.

rescue efforts

George Municipality said heavy earthmoving machinery would arrive Thursday night to assist with rescue and recovery efforts. This would include two five-tonne excavators, three 20-tonne excavators and three front-end loaders.

“Despite the introduction of large machinery, rescue techniques will continue to be applied meticulously and sensitively by the highly trained and experienced disaster management team,” the municipality said.

Gerhard Otto, head of disaster management at the Garden Route district municipality, said they will continue searching for survivors until the end.

“It will remain a rescue all the time. Although we are now adopting tougher measures in terms of recovery, to speed up the processes… I always pray until the last day that we can still get people out alive,” she said. DM