George Building Collapse | Three independent engineers brought in

Officials say the developers in charge of the building under construction, that collapsed at George in the Western Cape on Monday, have not yet reached out to them. Earlier, it was confirmed that 81 people were on site during the incident, and not 75 as previously believed. 37 people have been retrieved thus far, eight of whom were declared deceased. 44 are still unaccounted for.
Joining us to discuss this further is UCT Civil Engineering lecturer, Gundo Maswime.
For more news, visit sabcnews.com and #SABCNews on all Social Media platforms.

[@charlenebotha7164]

This tragedy has shown how extremely important these DOGS 🐕 , their handlers and trainers are. THANK YOU for all your efforts, hope each dog gets a juicy thank you bone

[@shanaazcloete8531]

Dogs come afterwards when a tragedy already occurred. What is more valuable is hiring qualified legal workers and adhering to health and safety rules.

[@sueanngrant]

This is the kind of interview that the public needs to help us understand how this disaster may have happened. Well done on identifying an appropriate interviewee that makes this easily understood

[@floorsdeklerk6622]

I hope the people helping in this Crisis all the BEST, stay strong ❤

[@khulanelehrsa6621]

Excellent response about health and safety compliance vs technical compliance. The structural failure had nothing to do with OHS.

[@cloudstrife8791]

From family who oversee these type of things they straight up stated the first floor columns showed different sizes. He stated 1 of todays biggest problems is many companies dont/cant afford to pay a bunch of qualified people and end up using just about anybody with a sign "i can cement/build/etc. Cutting corners is becoming a norm. Clothes i had in highschool and uni lasted years on years now it gets torn in a few months. Even food is now more about chemicals used so it can look xyz than just making sure its healthy/pure. The foreigners missing sounds exactly like another example of construction using anybody for cost cuts... "that is until proven highly qualified."

[@shanaazcloete8531]

You are in bigger trouble if your workers are illegal. This will teach them. South Africans will not be by passed on street corners looking for work, like they blatantly did before. .

[@patrickcannell2258]

Always about money! Sickening. Greed😢 and desperation.

[@cloudstrife8791]

@@shanaazcloete8531 Pretty much what was happening in the textile industry. Big factor to why was straight forward the minimum wage was too high and illegals become the survival option. If you google info you gonna find that all over 2023 2022 2019 2017 etc. Unions demand yet companies struggle to survive ends up that way. Many things come from imports which are expensive with our 19USD. Cost of living is cancerous and then this happens. Many companies also use antiunion questions to straight up kick those from interviews and who doesnt belong to unions... illegal or legal foreigners. Kind of a reap what you sow at the same time.

[@user-bg9dp3gr7i]

So the media have been used to cover up all what have happened here we heard that they said all their books collapsed with the building we wanna know why they are allowed to continue to work.

[@harryclarencealexander9161]

The municipal officials who signed off the plans and also approved the many building regulation departures must be investigated.

[@simonpfotenhauercapetown7055]

No. That's incorrect. Municipalities do not scrutinize structural aspects of a building. They are neither qualified, nor capable of those kind of checks (in SA)

[@lwandilentaphane5719]

​@@simonpfotenhauercapetown7055But there must surely be standards or regulations to be met

[@harryclarencealexander9161]

There reference here is the multiple departures from the building regulations that have been approved by municipal officials. How do you build a 5 level structure in an area that is clearly single residential?

[@harryclarencealexander9161]

​Read the statement...it says "departure "

[@user-rb2li6py1x]

​@@simonpfotenhauercapetown7055so you're telling me... an inspector came here to me and gave items but doesn't have what? After building. Thousands spent? Do you even live in SA guy?

[@leebrand2172]

Adding a floor always raises eyebrows but there are still a multitude of possible causes. So we will just have to wait .............

[@clairetomkyns175]

The developers should have been first on the scene. The fact that they're not and evading the investigators is very suspicious.

[@silam2329]

True no matter who the are they are liable for this tragedy

[@butler2149]

What if they were there at site when it collapsed?

[@MikhailOliver-jy5bj]

Thank you.

[@drewdominicmulawa9184]

So the modifications played a roll here.

[@shanemeissenheimer586]

They going to look for all the missing steel reinforcement that is visibly missing from the video!! 😮

[@OCTAGONGROUPDESIGNS-hx3hk]

This is straight manslaughter. We are just waiting for the report but we know what went on here.

[@tanagwembe2348]

Well said Engineer Gundo. Been a Site Engineer on several construction sites. You have to stand your ground and not give in to pressure from Clients who want speed and cost reduction at the expense of a quality and safe structure. You give in at your own professional peril and unfortunately loss of life to innocent souls. May Their Souls Rest In Peace 🙏

[@NicoletteEBedford]

Those poor people did not deserve to be injured, or die is this horrible way.They were the bread winners and now what? How are their dependents going to live? Tomorrow would have been pay day! The mental anguish of the families..lives turned upside down...sleeping in a hall,on the floor, washing in hand basins, clothes? At least food and water, juices...from caring people. Social services...huge undertaking. Think about it.

[@lee-angel4610]

😭

[@anneleeuwen2105]

😢😢😢😢

[@meltedpuddle9219]

Thinking of those guys on-site that had no control over this.

[@sydneygrimes1132]

they cant find the developer at his office was he maybe at the site and is trapped?

[@sallyseaward5865]

Why haven’t the search & rescue team from Mexico Topos (the moles) been called upon ? They are world renowned.

[@michellepatricia408]

Is there a pic of the building before it collapsed?

[@diannequinn2808]

Thank you for your very informative remarks.

[@BongelaMnguni]

That concrete looks very weak to me by just looking at the color and the fact that it turned into a powder after collapse. you can not cut corners in a multistorey building.

[@user-qi7id4me3l]

If they mixed the Concrete on a Friday something could have gone wrong?????????? Unbelievable Work Ethics.

[@bruceberry3421]

BEE /Cuban Engineers ???

[@rosemaryanderson9228]

Its sad whats happened to those thats deceased my condolences goes out to the Families the buldings that are now being built are badly built and its sad that most of the Artists of the old times have died they built the town and its still standing

[@edithlanga6235]

The concern with this collapse is that it looks like it's controlled just like planned explosion

[@abdushakoorjamalmokalane1719]

The engineers made a big mistake by cutting measures on specifications,the evidence is there

[@OscarDunn-yb9is]

At the moment its just all speculation....get the people to safety first....THEN then have an inquiry...somebody ultimately is liable....

[@user-rb2li6py1x]

Let's be honest... fly by night contractors. They take alot of chances, pushing for profit. Prayers for lives lost but this is disgusting in a south africa that has 1st world tech but bringing 3rd world thoughts. Condolences to the families involved

[@marindawilkinson6705]

Why don't I see a heavy duty grabbing machine operating on the cite? Those rescuers actually look kind of confused with the whole scenario

[@ChwayitaMboxela]

This is a disaster praying for survivers 💔💔😪

[@user-oi4tj4pp8q]

I thought the engineer would be talking about the process of saving or recovering those under the rouble...?

[@godfreyberry1599]

This man speaks SENSE. Minimum standards RULE THE INDUSTRY. What has become of the Murray and Roberts, Concor, Group 5 etc. who re-wrote the BOOK on SOUND BUILDING PRACTICE. Forgot - they left for DUBAI and elsewhere where super multi storey buildings are the NORM.

[@user-us4kz3zg6v]

Lelike goete kom hier vorendag Watch die space die poppe gaan rekenskap gee sekerlik

[@Hannah-hv5pc]

What a silly question " you are very emotional , may ask why?" This question is ridiculous and damaging. The journalists need training in what to say in situations of trauma. Absolutely shocking interview.

[@Bayshark101]

Visually one can see the quality of concrete was poor. Every delivered batch of concrete has cube tests. Check with the concrete supplier and confirm the cube tests vs a core sample. IMHO the contractor is up a creek without a paddle

[@troyheald77]

AAA+++Bedford, Texas

[@elizabethvuyiswagqada5391]

Sifike njani kweze politiki?

[@X-ManGuy]

We as the Lazy Black South Africans Association (LBSAA), we would like to send our deepest condolences to the families of the deceased, We would also like to send a friendly reminder to those companies who call us lazy, if you employed our people in the construction of that building non of this would have happened, we have the experience but we won't allow you (companies) to exploit us. We just wonder how many of these buildings that have already been built but could collapse at anytime soon. You (companies) are all allowed to call us lazy, but the consequences of that would be unsafe houses, buildings or bridges, we have seen alot collapse and more will collapse in the near future.

[@williamshakur8715]

Anc DA and eff promoting Morden day slavery 😮😮😮😮

[@jamesmhango2619]

Start with qualifications. Of late anyone can be an Engineer

[@grantbradshaw7907]

This guy is a Zimbabwean

[@bhekisizwemthethwa341]

Gundo sounds Venda boss...but what is the relevance of his Nationality if he is a Specialist in Structural Engineering at UCT?

[@butler2149]

So what?

[@jeromepillay2738]

Unisa Engineers

[@kingmufasa8929]

Corrupt builders. Using seasand and Pritt

[@kingmufasa8929]

BBEEE at work!

[@dantevanniekerk]

UCT? graduated? nee man!!!

[@SadieMy]

Why do you have a problem believing that?

[@bhekisizwemthethwa341]

I cannot believe the bigotry...what do you mean?

[@Straightdeal]

All SA University standards have plummeted.

[@bcknowthyself]

This is man made

[@OCTAGONGROUPDESIGNS-hx3hk]

Clearly man made, we are just waiting for the report to know who did what

[@tonythebomb4147]

Please let's wait for the investigation.

[@OCTAGONGROUPDESIGNS-hx3hk]

@@tonythebomb4147 This structure crumbled straight down like a house of cards. Engineers and contractors are trained to be competent to avoid these kind of accidents. And having been in construction for some time, I am 75% sure that it's either the engineers didn't do things by the book or the contractor was cutting corners.

[@tonythebomb4147]

@@Leslie54272 So do you expect this investigation also to go 10 years?? Let the investigation go on and will see what happens. At the moment people speculating what happened.