George building collapse: 52 workers undocumented

From the 68 claims received by the Compensation Fund following the tragic George building collapse, 15 were found to be South African citizens.

A staggering 53 individuals were found to be undocumented foreign nationals, with only one having a valid working permit. However at the time of incident, the permit had expired.

The collapse, which occurred on May 6, 2024, involved a four-storey building under construction in George, Western Cape, trapping dozens of workers under rubble.

The tragedy that shook the George community left 34 people dead, 28 people survived.

An independent forensic investigation into the collapse, by Human Settlements Minister Thembi Simelane, revealed systemic failures at multiple levels.

This week the Deputy Minister of Employment and Labour, Jomo Sibiya, said from the 68 claims received by the compensation fund, 53 individuals were found to be undocumented foreign nationals,

Sibiya said 28 of the claims were death claims while the 40 were injury on duty (IOD) claims. 

The three companies who employed the foreign nationals according to the Department are Father and Son, Popiana and Stefan Boshoff Boas. 

Father and Son employed the majority -34- following by Stefan Boshoff Boas with 10 and Popiana nine. 

According to Sibiya, the Compensation Fund received 68 claims, while the Federated Employment Assurance (FAM) received five.

"Four alleged claims were unverified as they had 'no documents, just names',” he said.

“The confirmation that these 53 were foreign nationals came from the Department of Home Affairs. We also got to know from them that only one had a work permit, meaning all the other 52 didn’t have work permits.

''But even that work permit had expired, meaning even that work permit was as simple as non-existing. It was not valid. The entire 53 foreign nationals were illegal ones as per Home Affairs books,'' said Sibiya. 

Sibiya told Parliament this week that a total of 77 workers were affected by the incident.

Following the tragedy, the Department of Human Settlement said the forensic report highlighted widespread non-compliance with regulatory standards and mismanagement by both the National Home Builders Registration Council (NHBRC) and project personnel as key factors behind the incident.

“The investigation found irregular project enrolment, inspection lapses, poor material quality, and violations of occupational health and safety protocols,” Simelane said.

The investigation also uncovered serious issues with the homebuilder certification and grading process, including misrepresentation of the company’s capabilities and approval of a multi-storey building without proper registration.

Sibiya explained that disaster management protocols were immediately activated following the collapse. 

“Initial reports indicated that 75 workers were trapped underneath the collapsed building,” he said. 

He added that specialised rescue teams worked under the supervision of disaster management until May 17, 2024, when the site was completely cleared.

Sibiya said the Department of Employment and Labour deployed occupational health and safety inspectors immediately after the incident.

“The local compensation fund officials were deployed to the site on the 7th of May 2024, and on the 9th of May 2024, Section 31 incident investigation under the Department of Employment and Labour was initiated,” Sibiya told MPs.

He said the investigation involved securing debris for sampling and initiating social security claims for affected workers. 

According to Sibiya, the department’s investigation process was ongoing and would not be rushed. “Investigations have their own independent lifespan,” he said. “We avoid any interference or any pressure to those who are responsible for investigations. At times it takes a bit of time but it is necessary.”

Sibiya also emphasised the importance of cooperation among government entities during such incidents, warning that fragmented efforts made complex investigations even harder.

“A situation where role players or departments pull in different directions complicates an already complex investigation,” he said.

Sibiya expressed condolences to the families affected: “We continue to cry with those families that lost their loved ones. May their souls rest in peace.”

Cape Times