An independent forensic investigation into the building that collapsed in George, in the Western Cape, last year, has found that systematic failures were responsible for the tragedy.
The failures occurred across multiple levels of oversight, noncompliance with regulatory standards, and mismanagement by both the National Home Builders Registration Council (NHBRC) and the project’s personnel, according to an article in Engineering News.
On May 6, 2024, the Neo Victoria project, a residential building that was still under construction, collapsed without warning, claiming the lives of 34 of the 62 construction workers on site.
Many of the survivors were also critically injured. Rescue efforts to extract survivors from the debris continued for about a week after the collapse.
Minister of the Department of Human Settlements, Thembi Simelane, confirmed that five officials implicated in the incident were currently suspended and were facing potential criminal charges. The charges that will be levelled against them include dereliction of duty, misconduct, negligence, dishonesty, and misrepresentation in official inspection reports.
The investigation led to several findings regarding the homebuilder certification and homebuilder grading process, enrolment certification process, inspection model, technical manager appointment, role and certification including technical test, supervision or value chain supervision, inspection and structural defects, skills adequacy of non-technical engineering persons, validity of certification of internal and external competent persons and architects with professional bodies, the municipal building approval process, material quality and structural deficiencies, validity of the geotechnical report, engineering and soil classification of the site, and adherence to the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
[Photo: Garden Route District JOC/George Municipality]