The death of a worker near the Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane on Friday will be investigated, the 2010 Soccer World Cup local organising committee (LOC) said.
”We would like to send condolences to the family of the worker who tragically died at the Peter Mokaba Stadium site in Polokwane today [Friday],” said LOC CEO Danny Jordaan. ”It is the first death recorded during the 2010 Fifa World Cup process and we learnt of this incident with great sadness.”
The chairperson of the WHBO construction company working on the stadium, Mike Wyllie, said the safety of workers is a top priority in construction and that the Department of Labour will investigate.
”This is a big blow and we want to send our heartfelt condolences to the family of the worker … we cannot release his name until his family has been properly notified,” Wyllie said.
He said the incident occurred about 400m from the stadium construction site at a pre-cast cement facility where concrete panels are produced and stacked, and the worker was killed when a stack of panels fell over and on to him.
”We have closed the site until Monday and a number of people on site are being counselled,” said Wyllie.
Jordaan said the incident highlights the dangers associated with constructing ”these world-class stadiums under very difficult conditions”.
”There are over 20 000 workers on site daily at all 10 Fifa World Cup stadiums … we would like to pay tribute to each and every one of them today,” Jordaan said.
He said the incident came as workers at the Soccer City construction site in Johannesburg — which will host the World Cup opening match and final — marked one million accident-free hours worked on-site by 2 400 workers. — Sapa