‘We do not know where they are’ – Nxesi on owner of George building that collapsed

Employment and Labour Minister Thulas Nxesi says authorities are still trying to find the owner of the building that collapsed in George, Western Cape, on Monday.

On Thursday, Nxesi visited the collapse site. The building collapse has resulted in several fatalities and numerous people remaining unaccounted for.

Search efforts for trapped workers are still ongoing.

Investigations into George building collapse

Speaking to the media, Nxesi confirmed that his department would conduct its own investigations into the incident.

“The police will do their own work unhindered, but at some stage the police will hand over, once they are done with their work, to the Department of Employment and Labour, which will be able to start with its own investigation.

“Our investigation will be informed by the Occupational Health and Safety Act, in particular section 31 and 32, of what is normal when we are faced with such incidents,” he told reporters.

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The minister indicated that the Western Cape government would carry out an independent investigation as well.

Nxesi warns against politicising building collapse

He stressed that the disaster required various government departments to work in cooperation.

“It’s not a competition. We can’t play politics with the lives of the workers.”

Nxesi also cautioned against politicising and spreading fake news about the cause of the building’s collapse.

“There are a lot of rumours. We don’t want to speculate. We will leave everything to the investigations and once the investigations have been able to expose the facts, we will talk to that.

“We have to put our differences aside and just work. We know that it’s election time… but now it is about the disaster which has affected the poor workers.”

Watch the briefing below:

The minister said the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) would be roped in as some of the workers are believed to be Zimbabwean, Mozambican and Malawian nationals.

“We cannot communicate with some of the families in terms of language. We would need to talk to the various missions who are here in South Africa to send their people here.”

He hinted that the victims’ families would be compensated.

“We deal with that through Coida [Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act], but we can do that once everybody have been identified.”

Building owner disappeared?

Nxesi also questioned the whereabouts of the building’s owner.

“We do not know where they are.”

He revealed that the families wanted to engage with the owner.

“The families are crying for just one thing, that as much as we are here as government, they would love to talk to the employer. It will be good that the employer or the owners wherever they are, that they are able to come, from a moral point of view, and just talk to the families.”

READ MORE: George building collapse: Investigator says it’s too early to determine what caused ‘disaster’

The minister refrained from providing timelines regarding the investigation.

“When we are dealing with a matter as sensitive as this, we can’t put timelines because we have got to dig deep. Some of the investigations [in the past] have taken us six months, some a year or even more.

“Let’s allow for those investigations [to unfold] because sometimes depending on the evidence we get, they can implicate people. That’s why we have to be meticulous in our processes.

“We don’t know when the police are going to be able to hand over the site to us. We can’t even say this is the start and the end date, so we will leave it there.”

Workers’ rights

The minister further expressed concern about companies employing immigrants, whether documented or undocumented, and exploiting them.

“It is about human beings whose rights are supposed to be protected, regardless of their status and their nationality.

“We have raised concerns about how some employers have preferred [to hire] foreign nationals just because they are cheap labour and desperate people who would take any job.

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“They undermine the labour laws and [hire] documented or undocumented people, but we are not dealing with that issue.

“Here we are dealing with a disaster and we need to help those families. We need to make sure that those who are injured, they are taken care of. Workers’ rights are also human rights.”

Meanwhile, Western Cape MEC for Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning, Anton Bredell emphasised the provincial government’s commitment to holding those accountable for their actions.

“We will not leave any stone untouched to get to the bottom of this and people responsible will be held accountable. We can assure the public that.”