The building known as the Bank of Lisbon building on Pixley ka Isaka Seme street (formerly Sauer Street) in Johannesburg that used to house the Department of Health is imploded, 24 November 2019. Picture: Neil McCartney
The implosion of the Bank of Lisbon building in downtown Johannesburg on Sunday went off without a hitch and provided spectators – and later online viewers – with a spectacular show.
It is going to take about three months to clear the rubble – and at an eye-watering R100 million-plus – to make way for a new development.
The spectacle should not prevent us from reflecting on the reason the building had to be demolished. It had become fatally unsafe because of neglect by the department of public works. That neglect included allowing it to become a firetrap … and then failing to have enough water inside the building to use the sprinkler system effectively.
The result was that three firefighters died trying to stop a blaze which swept through the building and kept going for days.
While the deaths are a tragedy for families and colleagues, they are also, sadly, a metaphor for South Africa as a whole.
Our government neglects not only our infrastructure, but also our people. There are not enough resources because of looting and incompetence, which characterises our civil service.
So, in the end, ordinary people die. South Africa deserves better. We are tired of watching our country slowly implode around us.
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