On 17 September, Public Safety MMC, Michael Sun joined the Acting Chief of Emergency Management Services (EMS) Rapulane Monageng and other senior officials in the department as they revealed the findings of the external investigation into the Bank of Lisbon building fire tragedy which occurred on 5 September 2018.
According to Sun’s spokesperson, Luyanda Longwe, the department revealed the findings to the family members of the late firefighters Sphiwe Maropane, Khathutshelo Mundi, and Mduduzi Ndlovu, who tragically lost their lives in the line of duty at the Bank of Lisbon building in the inner-city.
“It is not our intention to open healing wounds but to ensure the families are the first to find out what happened on that fateful day. I hope through this process, we can all find closure of this chapter of our lives and correct what went wrong so the ultimate sacrifices by these three firefighters would not have been in vain,” said Longwe.
Longwe disclosed that four separate investigations were conducted by various authorities and independent experts. An investigation was conducted by the South African Police Services as part of the criminal/ inquest investigation. This report and findings have not been made available to the City as yet.
“The second investigation was done by the City of Johannesburg’s Quality Assurance team to examine the compliance levels of the building as well as evaluate the structural integrity of the structure. The third investigation is by the City’s Occupational Health and Safety Unit to evaluate the adherence of policy and systems procedures followed by EMS in meeting required compliance requirements,” continued Longwe.
“The fourth investigation and report were done by and external and independent expert commissioned by EMS to determine what led to the death of the firefighters and if all procedures were followed by the firefighters on the day of the event. It also determines any failures and corrective measures to be taken.”
Longwe said a presentation on the fourth investigation and report was made to the families. EMS has also highlighted similar findings in terms of the City’s internal investigation and the external independent investigations which indicates there is a high degree of transparency and the City’s commitment to correct its shortcomings.
Longwe stressed that the City would furthermore immediately implement the recommended corrective measures as far as the City is concerned so a tragedy such as this did not happen again. “Furthermore, the City’s Quality Assurance Report is separate from the two reports which we as Public Safety have conducted, therefore we will limit ourselves on our own processes.”
The City is working on concluding the process to make the report available to the public at an appropriate forum within the coming month.
Related article:
https://northeasterntribune.co.za/241320/ems-fallen-heroes-honoured/
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