All the 53 foreign nationals who were working on site at the time of the George building collapse were in SA illegally and did not have valid work permits, the deputy minister of employment and labour has revealed.
Jomo Sibiya, along with the police, George municipality and the departments of public works and human settlements, was on Wednesday briefing parliament on the findings of the George building collapse that occurred on May 6 2024.
Sibiya said 77 employees were affected by the collapse of the building that was still under construction.
So far, he said, the Compensation Fund has received 68 claims, while the Federated Employer Mutual Assurance (FEM) received five.
“Of the 68 claims received by the Compensation Fund, 28 are fatal claims. And we continue to cry with those families that lost their loved ones. May their souls rest in peace. Forty are for injuries on duty,” he said.
He said out of the 68, 15 were found to be South African citizens, while 53 were foreign nationals employed by various companies linked to the site.
“Father & Son, which is a company, employed 34 of those 53 foreign nationals. Popiana employed nine of those 53 foreign nationals. And Stefan Boshoff Boas employed 10 of them. The confirmation that these 53 were foreign nationals came from the department of home affairs.
“We also got to know from them that only one had a work permit, meaning all the other 52 didn’t have work permits. But even that work permit had expired, meaning even that work permit was as simple as non-existent. It was not valid. So the entire 53 foreign nationals were illegal ones, as per home affairs books,” Sibiya said.
Sibiya also said that 19 claims remain unregistered due to missing documentation such as death certificates, medical reports or identity documents.
“Of the 49 registered claims, 33 have been accepted, 13 rejected due to missing information and one because the employee did not sustain any physical injury and two names do not match the employer records. These are still under investigation,” he said.
Milly Ruiters, chief inspector responsible for occupational health and safety at the department, criticised the main contractor, Liatel, for failing to report or submit injury-on-duty claims for deceased and injured workers despite being registered with FEM.
“On August 8 2024, claims were registered for four deceased employees—three South Africans and one Malawian,” read the presentation.
Sibiya urged that there be no interference or political pressure while the department’s investigation continues.
“There are certain aspects that should not be interfered with to avoid putting the outcome at risk. In particular, on our side, there are protocols that guide our investigations under Occupational Health and Safety, where we avoid any interference or pressure on those responsible for the investigations. However, we also ensure that we go into what exactly happened,” he said.
Sowetan
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