Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Public Works and Infrastructure says the investigation into the 2024 George building collapse, which claimed 34 lives, has revealed serious gaps in oversight, accountability, and regulatory processes.

Committee chairperson Carol Phiri said the committee received a briefing from the Council for the Built Environment (CBE) and the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) on Wednesday, followed by a discussion on outstanding legislation.

“The issue of the collapse of George is very complex. What we have got from the report is that there are multiple stakeholders, be it your municipality, the Department of Labour, Human Settlement, SAPS, ourselves and other entities like safety officers and engineers,” Phiri said.

She stressed that the committee had resolved to call for a joint sitting with other relevant portfolio committees, including Human Settlements, to get to the bottom of the tragedy.

“In the wrap-up of our meeting, we agreed that we need a joint meeting where we will call Human Settlement as well because they are responsible. What we found out is that the main constructor is registered with the NHBRC, which reports directly to Human Settlements, not to CBE. That raises a lot of questions,” she said.

Phiri added that the full forensic report remains sensitive and has not yet been made public.

“They feel it’s very sensitive. It cannot be discussed now. It will need us in camera first and the resolution, as I’ve said, to our committee,” she explained.

The committee also raised alarm over irregularities in the construction process itself, which Pire described as deeply troubling.

“What was so disappointing is that the foundation in the first place was for a four-story building. When they started to push it to a multiple or whether to increase to a seven-story building, there were no proper processes that were followed,” she said.

“The process on its own is faulted, and we find out that the people who were working there raised the alarm that the building was shaking, and they were not taken into consideration.”

The committee is seeking approval from the chair of chairs, Cedric Froelich, to conduct an oversight visit to George and engage directly with stakeholders.

“We are still calling upon our chair of chairs, to approve us to also go to George as a committee and do a public participation oversight. It might not bear fruits, but it will need public participation where you also engage different stakeholders on the site,” Phiri said.

She added that the George collapse highlighted wider risks in the construction sector.

“It’s not only about George. It’s just that George incident has killed many people, but we’ve got a number of buildings that are constructed without proper processes. You need municipalities to be part of that. You need professional bodies to be part of that. It tells you engineers were not on site on a daily basis to inspect what is happening,” Phiri warned.

On legislation, the committee agreed to expedite outstanding laws carried over from the previous administration.

“There are legislations that are from the previous administration and we still have to deal with them. Normally, when you deal with legislation, it started with the 6th administration, now it’s the 7th administration. So, we want to expedite the process and finish up in time and not allow it to pass to the next or to the 8th administration that is coming,” Phiri said.

The committee has committed to fast-tracking both the investigation and the legislative process, saying accountability and reform are critical to preventing further tragedies.

IOL News

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