By Esther de Villiers
After waiting in the hot sun and dust from the building site at the corner of York and Victoria Streets in George, crowds were finally rewarded of a glimpse of President Cyril Ramaphosa when the presidential cavalcade finally arrived shortly after 1pm.
Ramaphosa, accompanied by dignitaries such as Western Cape Premier Alan Winde, provincial MEC for local government Anton Bredell, and Garden Route district mayor Memory Booysen, was led straight to the site of the implosion.
Current figures of the rescued, recovered, hospitalised and deceased, still indicate another 19 people who are listed as active on the site at the time of collapse as “unaccounted for”.
Considering the state of excavations and the fact that truckloads of rubble is now filling up sections of the gaping hole where a five-storey building was under construction just 10 days ago, it seems highly unlikely that further human remains will be found.
Founder of social media site SA Independent and Mossel Bay building contractor Yolan Stander said theree are rumours that those not caught in the collapse had run away at the first signs of crumbling walls.
“Word in the industry is that some workers at 75 Victoria were paid R80 per day, an amount the contractor could only get away with if these were illegal immigrants. Those now listed as ‘unaccounted for’ will probably never be seen again, as they’ll be arrested on the spot,” said Stander.
Once the president had thanked emergency workers and support crews around the crash site, a short address was delivered in the civic hall, where most in the audience consisted of family and friends of the victims.
Ramaphosa lauded the cooperation of all spheres of local and national government, explaining the massive task of rescuing the living, retrieving the dead. The remains were repatriating their to neighbouring countries with the help of consulates from the Southern African Development Community, including Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Lesotho.
He pledged the government’s continued socio-psychological support and eventual compensation to survivors and relatives of the deceased.
“We want to be the balm, the ointment that helps in healing their grief,” he said.
He further committed to bringing to book those responsible for the disaster however long it takes.
“All issues will be properly and carefully investigated and I promise transparency in this matter. But I ask for your patience,” he said.
The general expectation is that now that Ramaphosa’s stopover is in the past, recovery operations at the site will be wrapped up within days.
Investigations into the cause of the disaster, and establishing the whereabouts of those still unaccounted-for are sure to take months or even years.
Pictured above: President Ramaphosa meets some of those involved at the site of the George building disaster.
Source: Garden Route District Municipality
