Tongaat Mall collapse: probe to start next month

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15-01-2014
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The Citizen
Source

The company ignored both the notices and the interdict and only ceased construction on November 19 – the day the mall collapsed

Durban – The commission of inquiry set up to investigate the collapse of the Tongaat Mall will resume work next month, the department of labour said yesterday.

A four-person inquiry established by the department to probe the disaster is expected to start its evidence gathering in February, spokesperson Nhlahla Khumalo said.

The mall, which collapsed two months ago, killing two people and injuring several others, was being constructed by Gralio Construction, a company linked to controversial businessman Jay Singh.

The company is facing allegations it had ignored orders from the eThekwini City to halt construction at the site after it was found its owners had failed to obtain the necessary permission to carry out construction work.

At the beginning of November, the eThekwini municipality served Gralio Construction with a court interdict, following numerous notices ordering the company to cease construction, as the mall had not been given the green light by authorities.

However, the company ignored both the notices and the interdict and only ceased construction on November 19 – the day the mall collapsed.

The company is also accused of not following accepted safety guidelines.

The department also claimed most of the workers who were on site when the mall collapsed were registered with neither the department’s unemployment benefit fund, nor its employee compensation fund.

Khumalo said the commission, chaired by the department’s deputy director-general for occupational health and safety, Phumudzo Maphaha, will conduct its hearings from the municipality offices in Tongaat.

“Employees, construction owners and officials from the eThekwini municipality are some of the people who will testify,” Khumalo said.

The collapsed mall is owned by Rectangle Property Investments, a company also linked to Singh.

“To date, members of the commission have visited and assessed the site. All interested stakeholders represented by their legal representatives and workers were also engaged,” Khumalo said.