GEORGE NEWS - The SAPS is to finalise its investigation into the 75 Victoria Street building collapse by the end of November, provided that the Department of Employment and Labour (DEL) submits its outstanding report, according to Major-General Bongani Maqashalala from the Western Cape Crime Detection Unit.

Maqashalala gave feedback about the police investigation into the incident at a joint meeting on Wednesday 5 November of the Portfolio Committee (PC) on Human Settlements and the PC of Public Works and Infrastructure. It was a special session for the SAPS, Department of Employment and Labour (DEL) and George Municipality to brief the committees on findings regarding the incident. 

Maqashalala said all information gathered during their investigation should be handed over to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) by mid-December.

Explaining why the report from the DEL has not been handed over the the SAPS yet, Deputy Minister Jomo Sibiya in his feedback said certain protocols guide their investigations and "at times it takes a bit of time". "Investigations have their own independent lifespan" and there are parts that should not be interfered with "in order not to put the outcome at risk".

Sibiya also told the PCs that his department experienced "some challenges" with the SAPS investigating team who "chased away" DEL inspectors from the disaster site who were there to do their own investigation. They were "bullied" by the SAPS team who tried to interfere with the DEL investigation, opening a case against a DEL inspector to obtain the original health and safety files. However, the DEL is bound by the occupational health and safety regulations to keep the original documents as part of their own investigation. The case was later withdrawn after DEL's legal service team wrote to the SAPS to clear up the matter.

Speaking on behalf of the George Municipality, Municipal Manager Godfrey Louw stuck to the GM's previously stated premise, that the content of the engineering report it had received from the Engineering Council of South Africa (Ecsa), would not be disclosed, based on the legal advice it had received. The report is with the SAPS and forms part of their criminal investigation. 

Louw said there is "a narrative out there in public domain that the municipality must take ownership and must be held accountable for the building collapse. We received legal opinion to the opposite, that in terms of potential delictual liability, the municipality cannot be held liable."

During cross-questioning by the committees about the non-disclosure, George Mayor Jackie von Brandis said the municipality beforehand had provided a 60-page report to the committees on what the municipality had done and what legislation applies to the municipality. They cannot give out any report that they are legally not allowed to hand over, she said.

Carol Phiri, chairperson of the Public Works PC, said the government must subpoena the municipality because of its "disregard" for the committees. 

"Parliament must subpoena the municipality. They must give us all their records from council meetings and what was resolved by council."

The municipality is a stone's throw away from the site of the collapsed building. "It means that that particular person [municipal official who signed off on the plans] was driving from the crime scene to the municipality on a daily basis. And what was his response when the fifth storey was being erected?"

The gaps in the monitoring and coordination processes among government departments and municipalities, and deficiencies in regulation and systems of the various authorities were also highlighted. Concern over a shortage of labour inspectors, which inhibits the department's ability to monitor compliance, was also raised. The DEL has 2 000 inspectors nationally. 

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