The death toll after the Stellenbosch building collapse was revised to three on Wednesday, the town’s director of community safety said.
Richard Bosman said that earlier he had been incorrectly informed that five people had died. He had since confirmed that one person was declared dead after the accident on Monday and two bodies were retrieved from the site early on Wednesday.
Police spokesperson Superintendent Andre Traut confirmed the three deaths and said that four the 15 people who had been on site at the time of the collapse were in hospital.
Three death inquests would be conducted and referred to a court for a decision on whether anyone could be held culpable.
Acting labour minister Ngconde Balfour visited the site on Wednesday following an initial report that recorded a number of alleged contraventions of safety laws.
The Department of Labour alleges that: there was no notification to the department of the construction work to be undertaken; no risk assessment plan on site; no documents relating to administration and operations of the project as required by law; no demolition work supervisor or competent people to supervise demolition work; and no design, drawing or calculations of the support-work structure on site.
A statement from Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana, who is attending an International Labour Organisation summit in Switzerland, said: ”I have always emphasised that employers should consider life of workers before profits. Companies have always been urged to adhere to OHS [occupational health and safety measures] in order to ensure safe workplaces.
”Workers must go to work to produce, not to die,” he said.
A spokesperson for principal contractor Lavita Builders was not immediately available to comment.
Labour Department spokesperson Zolisa Sigabi said the sub-contractor was one of the people injured and was still recovering in hospital. They had not been able to speak to him to get further details.
The department also wanted to establish whether compensation fund contributions for the families of the dead and injured had been made.
Work has been halted on the site and inspections would continue, Sigabi said. — Sapa