MPs criticise George Municipality’s failure to answers questions about building collapse probe

The George Municipality has come under sharp criticism from members of Parliament (MPs) for failing to answer questions about its probe into the George building collapse.

The municipality appeared before Parliament's portfolio committees on Human Settlements and Public Works on Wednesday.

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  The municipality said it has received legal advice not to speak on certain aspects of the engineering report it received, which it has since handed over to the police.
  
  George Municipality’s Godfrey Louw referred most of the questions to the municipality's legal team to the irritation of MPs.
  
  Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) MP Mbali Dlamini said, "I don't think it's helping us we are trying to find a solution to this particular case, and I think attorneys will come in when we ask for them to come in. But when questions are directed to the municipality, let it be the municipality that responds."

EFF MP Molebogeng Letlape echoed, "I want to agree with Honorable Dlamini there. I really think that this is a serious, utmost disrespect for the municipality to give us or to forward a legal representative when we are asking for answers."

However, Louw was adamant that some of the questions need to be answered by their lawyers.

"The question that was posed by the honourable member was, in fact, a legal question and the legal opinion that we have submitted to Parliament is not covered by that question. This is a media statement that arrived on my desk, and we are currently preparing a response to that media statement that is in the public domain."

INSPECTIONS OF CONSTRUCTION SITES ESCALATED

The Department of Employment and Labour said since the fatal George building collapse, it has escalated its inspections of construction sites.

The department briefed the same committees on its probe following the tragedy.

Thirty-four construction workers were killed and 28 others seriously injured when a multi-layer building collapsed, burying them under 6,000 tonnes of rubble in May 2024.

Flouting of building regulations and the incompetence of the engineer are some of the findings contained in a report of the Council for Built Environment, which investigated the conduct of engineers on site.

A report by the Department of Employment and Labour also revealed that at least 53 construction workers were illegal foreign nationals.

Deputy Minister Jomo Sibiya said the shortage of inspectors is making it difficult to visit each construction site.

"We do have challenges when it comes to the number of inspectors that we have. We have capable inspectors who wake up every morning to do inspection work with diligence and very ethical. I always say if we can at least get 10,000 permanent inspectors in this country, we can make a huge difference."

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