While the search for three-year-old Karabo Gwala who fell into an open sewerage manhole in Dube, Soweto, on Monday afternoon continues, preliminary investigations by the Department of Labour have established that the company conducting maintenance work before the accident violated health and safety regulations.
Inspectors found that the sewerage hole was not barricaded at the time of the incident, and no warning signs were positioned next to an excavation, the department revealed on Wednesday afternoon.
Minister of Labour Membathisi Mdladlana had earlier instructed inspectors to leave no stone unturned when investigating the matter.
The minister specifically ordered inspectors to investigate whether barriers had been erected around the manhole, and if there had been a supervisor on site as stipulated in occupational health and safety regulations.
Following the preliminary investigations Department of Labour inspectors served a prohibition notice on the Johannesburg Metropolitan Council — and have since instructed it adequately to barricade the open manhole.
”It is the duty of Johannesburg Metropolitan Council authorities to ensure that the necessary barriers were in place and workers operated under supervision at all times in order to avoid tragedies of this nature,” Mdladlana said on Wednesday.
He emphasized that health and safety regulations were not only there to protect the safety of workers, but also the general public in the vicinity.
Labour inspectors are currently interviewing witnesses and will soon forward a report to the national director of public prosecutions with recommendations. — I-Net Bridge