A massive marquee being erected to house VIPs including President Thabo Mbeki at a lunch after Friday’s opening of Parliament collapsed on Tuesday evening.
No one was injured.
The marquee was set up on a lawn near the South African National Gallery, alongside Mbeki’s Tuynhuys office building.
A security guard on site and a spokesperson for Esithebeni Caterers, the company contracted for the lunch, said the collapse occurred in strong wind.
Most of the roof, which was supported by metal struts, fell in, though the sides, anchored to iron pegs and large concrete blocks, remained standing.
Parliament’s spokesperson Luphumzo Kebeni said the erection of the marquee had not been complete by Tuesday evening, and a safety certificate had not yet been issued.
”The structure would not necessarily have been used as it was then for Friday’s event,” he said.
”They were still in the process of completing it.”
Asked whether it would be ready for Friday’s lunch, he said: ”I think that can be best answered by the company. It is really up to them.”
A spokesperson for Esithebeni, who declined to give his name, confirmed that the erection had not been complete and that a safety certificate had not yet been issued.
Asked whether the marquee would be ready by Friday, he said: ”I have no comment on that. We’re busy discussing with Parliament. I can’t [say] anything.”
In August 2003, Mbeki escaped injury but a woman was left paralysed when a marquee collapsed at a National Women’s Day function in Pretoria. – Sapa