Minister of Human Settlement Thembi Simelane said the George multi-storey building collapse was a result of non-compliance.
Image: Ayanda Ndamane / Independent Newspapers
The George building collapse, which gripped the nation, took place exactly a year ago today.
On May 6, 2024, tragedy struck just after 2pm, and the collapse saw hundreds of emergency personnel rush to save the 62 workers who were working on the five-storey apartment building.
The building collapse claimed the lives of 34 people and left scores of others injured.
Emergency personnel sifted through the debris for 11 days and 260 hours to find survivors.
Debris from the George Building collapse, which claimed 34 lives nearly a year ago, remains a stark reminder of the tragedy as investigations continue into the structural failures that led to the disaster.
Image: File
The majority of the workers on the site were foreign nationals.
The building, owned by Neo Victoria developments, prompted a thorough investigation that exposed alarming negligence and corner-cutting by the project's developers.
The building collapse, which was the worst disaster the nation has seen in decades, saw ministers and even President Cyril Ramaphosa flocking to the small town to address families affected by the tragic incident.
Last month, Human Settlements Minister Thembi Simelane presented the findings of this report, shedding light on a series of failures that led to one of the most catastrophic incidents in the country.
Rescuers extract one of the construction workers from the rubble of the collapsed building on Tuesday evening.
Image: Ayanda Ndamane/Independent Newspapers
According to the report, the company responsible for the Neo Victoria project is accused of bypassing crucial regulatory processes, fundamentally undermining safety protocols designed to protect both workers and residents.
Minister Simelane emphasised that these systemic failures encompassed multiple levels of oversight, revealing widespread non-compliance with the stringent regulatory standards set by the National Home Builders Registration Council (NHBRC).
Simelane stated that by failing to declare its intention to construct a multi-storey building, the company breached NHBRC's policies that mandate full transparency about a home builder’s intended project scope and technical capacity.
The investigation further identified significant lapses such as late enrolment, inadequate inspections, poor material quality, skills adequacy of non-technical engineering persons, architects with professional bodies, municipal building approval process, material quality and structural deficiencies, and numerous safety violations—all of which played crucial roles in the building's eventual collapse.
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