They feared the worst – Tongaat mall crisis
Families arrive at the site of the collapsed mall to search for their loved ones.
Family members of one of the Tongaat mall construction workers arrived at the collapsed Tongaat mall today fearing the worst after not being able to contact their son since the accident.
Xoliswa Jali, a 19-year-old bricklayer, joined the construction team at the mall less than five months ago.
His two aunts, Balekwa and Lungiseni and his brother, Siyabulela, made their way from their home in the rural outskirts of Inanda to the devastated mall hoping to hear news of Xoliswa.
The family had only heard the news about the mall’s collapse yesterday evening.
“We tried phoning him after we heard the news, when we kept getting voice mail we were scared but hoped he was fine and that perhaps his phone was broken,” said Balekwa.
The trio left home in the early hours of the morning and headed to Nkosi Albert Luthuli General Hospital in Durban, where some of the mall victims are being treated for various injuries.
After Xoliswa was not be found, they went to the Tongaat clinic where one of the nurses advised them to go to the site and ask about Xoliswa’s whereabouts.
“The police told us that he is at Alberlito Hospital where he is being treated for severe head wounds,” said Siyabulela.
Members of the Salvation Army Church, who travelled from Pietermartizburg to offer support and prayer to the families of the victims, accompanied the Jali’s to the hospital to pray for Xoliswa.
Balekwa said this was her nephew’s first job and he was trying to make a life for himself after losing both his parents. His mother passed away five years ago.
“I pray to God that my sister’s child is going to be okay. My heart also goes out to the Masuku family who are waiting to find their son Zweli,” she said.
Labour department officials are busy using cranes and industrial drill in the search for Zweli, one of possibly two people who are believed to still buried under the concrete rubble.
Zweli’s sister, Theodora, did not wish to speak to the media and said she will only know what to say when her brother is found.
The owners of the mall are facing charges of culpable homicide for the death of a pregnant construction worker who died when the mall collapsed on Tuesday.
