“What if I put it to you that there were only seven Y32s (steel bars) in the beam instead of 19 like you saying the were?” asked Phumudzo Maphaha during the Tongaat Mall Commission which is currently being held in Tongaat.
Maphaha was cross examining Sipho Mbuyisa, whose company Mbuyisa Steel Fixing Services CC was responsible for all the steel required in the construction of the mall.
Mbuyisa said he and his 15-man team put in 19 steel bars in the beam as per engineers’ drawings and he was sure of it.
“I would not have done anything that was not per the engineers’ specifications because my work was constantly inspected by site fireman, Ronnie Pillay and sometimes engineers would also come on site to see if I was doing things the correct way,” said Mbuyisa.
On March 10, the commission along with engineers, conducted a site visit to the mall that was being constructed by Jay Singh’s company Gralio Precast.
The mall collapsed on November 18 last year and killed two construction workers, Zakithi Nxumalo and Zweli Masuku.
Twenty-nine other construction workers suffered different degrees of injuries.
The commission previously heard from site foreman Ronnie Pillay that a concrete slab sagged by 70 mm in the days leading up to the collapse. However Mbuyisa said there were no sagging or signs of possible collapse on the days leading up to the disaster.
So far the commission has heard that site foreman Ronnie Pillay, steel fixer Sipho Mbuyisa and formwork supervisor Thando Mhlungu were all not qualified for the jobs they did at the mall and only had experience in the same field.
Mbuyisa had only three weeks of formal training and Mhlungu has a carpentry certificate.
Today they are hearing testimony from Siyabonga Zuma who was underneath the slab that collapsed.
