A 37-year-old woman from the West Rand who was injured when a marquee collapsed at a Women’s Day function in Pretoria on Saturday has been paralysed, Muelmed Hospital in Pretoria said on Sunday.
Hospital spokesperson Johann Dednam said a neurosurgeon confirmed that Suraya Scott suffered a ”spinal cord injury and was paralysed from the waist down.”
Dednam said: ”She was brought to the hospital on Saturday afternoon shortly after the incident. She was stabilised and underwent an operation on Sunday afternoon, and is currently in the intensive care unit.”
Scott was on stage to receive a Gauteng Women Achievers Award when the incident occurred. The married mother of a seven-year-old, Scott was self employed and owned a waste management business.
Dednam said Scott would have to join a rehabilitation programme.
”A paralysed patient would usually have to stay in hospital for about three months and undergo intensive therapy…”
Dednam refused to comment on whether the woman’s family would be taking legal action against anyone following the roof collapse.
Earlier on Sunday, the African Christian Democratic Party said the Department of Labour and other governmental agencies should accept responsibility for a marquee that collapsed.
It was the president’s second brush with collapsing marquees. On May 1, Workers Day, a marquee from where he was expected to address a Johannesburg workers’ rally collapsed.
Loose objects from the structure smashed the window in one of Mbeki’s motorcade vehicles.
The Department of Labour on Saturday issued a prohibition notice against the company that erected the stage in Pretoria.
Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana said his department’s inspectors reacted promptly to the incident and the company would not be able to do any structural work until a probe into the collapse had been completed.
ACDP spokesperson Mrs Jo-Ann Downs said on Sunday that the Department of Labour and other governmental agencies should first accept responsibility for their failure ”to establish a correct culture of respect for the health and safety of our citizens, which was displayed in their inability to inspect and control the risks attendant on a public event.”
She said, ”The Department of Labour has also admitted that the required safety certificates were not issued by the building control, and that the fire department were not called to inspect the stage.
”Safety standards were therefore not established.” – Sapa