Labour Dept received 77 claims for compensation from George building collapse victims

The Department of Employment and Labour said it has received 77 claims for compensation from victims of the fatal George building collapse.

Deputy Minister of Labour Jomo Sibiya briefed Parliament's portfolio committees on Human Settlements and Public Works on Wednesday.

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Thirty-four construction workers were killed and 28 others seriously injured when the partially built five-storey apartment block caved in in May 2024.

Sibiya said 68 claims were received by the Compensation Fund, the Federated Employer Mutual Assurance Company received five, and four other claims did not have any documentation.

"Of the 68 claims received by the Compensation Fund, 28 are fatal claims and we continue to cry with those families that lost their loved ones, and 40 are injury on duty, IOD, claims."

He said of the received by the compensation fund, 15 were South Africans and 53 were foreign nationals.

"That confirmation that these 53 were foreign nationals came from the Department of Home Affairs. We also got to know from them that only one had a work permit. But even that work permit had expired”

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