Premier

1. It is important to remember that the building collapse at 75 Victoria street in George on 6 May at 14:09 represented one of the worst single human tragedies in the Western Cape in recent memory. 34 lives were lost, and many more people suffered life-changing injuries. When I arrived at the site a few hours after the collapse, our incredible, dedicated rescue teams had launched a full-scale response involving a vast array of different stakeholders. To this day, I am still in awe of the extreme dedication and professionalism our teams showed as they worked around the clock to save lives. In the face of such a harrowing tragedy, I am also immensely proud of our teams for saving the lives of 28 survivors – some of whom I met with in December last year.                                                             In the immediate aftermath of the collapse, it was quite clear that we needed to record critical evidence from the rubble. However, our immediate priority had to be search and rescue, and by the time this process concluded, we knew it might be too late to collect some of the evidence we needed. Because of this, and because no national government department or entity seemed to share our sense of urgency at the time, the Western Cape Department of Infrastructure appointed consulting engineers to document the evidence as quickly as possible, and to conduct an independent investigation into the cause of the collapse, with a focus on design adequacy, construction practice and related contributing factors. This process could not wait until the site was cleared, and so material, soil and core samples were collected from the site for analysis, under strict supervision and control of the South African Police Service.

But more than the practical reasons for beginning our own investigation, we also felt a sense of obligation to those who had been injured in the collapse, and to the families of those whose lives had been lost. For the Western Cape Government, this is not about checking a box or being seen to do the right thing by the public – it is about giving those who have been directly affected by this disaster closure, and it is about making sure we treat this matter with the seriousness and the respect it deserves.

2. Given the nature of the collapse and the rigorous format of the assessments done, the investigation was completed in a relatively short time. The process included the following:

• Extensive sample analysis
• Structural modelling
• Material testing
• Document analysis
• Scrutiny of video and photographic records of site conditions prior to the collapse
• Collecting and studying information provided by third parties including eyewitnesses

Importantly, we also insisted that the report be comprehensively peer-reviewed. We knew that if this report was going to assist SAPS in pursuing accountability against those responsible for the collapse, we had to ensure that its accuracy and impartiality could not in any way be considered in doubt. This peer review by an independent party added some weeks on to the process, but comprehensively ensured the report’s validity before it was handed over to the SAPS in January of this year.

The investigation by the Western Cape Government is one of several that were launched, with the SAPS being the lead body responsible for investigating an incident of this nature.

The report is now in the domain of the SAPS which must consider both the findings of our report and all other evidence in their possession as part of the overall criminal investigation to determine if charges are to be brought. The findings in the report are of such a nature that the provincial government believes they will significantly assist the SAPS investigation.

We now await the results of the SAPS investigation, and will continue to assist their investigators in any way we can.