This news aggregator site highlights South African labour news from a wide range of internet and print sources. Each posting has a synopsis of the source article, together with a link or reference to the original. Postings cover the range of labour related matters from industrial relations to generalist human resources.News24 reports that as police take over the scene of the deadly George building collapse, a long-running criminal investigation into another building tragedy – the Tongaat Mall collapse – appears to have stalled.
Two people were killed and 29 injured on 19 November 2013 when a slab of concrete collapsed after a supporting column gave way. The Department of Labour launched an inquiry and then Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant handed over the results of the probe to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) in KwaZulu-Natal at a high-profile media conference in May 2016. But eight years later, the NPA is still sitting on its investigation. "Investigations are ongoing, and we are therefore not in a position yet to make any decision in respect of the matter," said NPA regional spokesperson Natasha Ramkisson-Kara last week. In 2016, the minister declined to give the names of the companies and people implicated, but she said the probe had found clear evidence of wrongdoing. This included a lack of supervision of construction work at the mall, a lack of building knowledge, poor construction methods, and a failure to adhere to standards, such as properly analysing the results of tests on concrete. At the time, the department also promised that it would tighten laws to reduce the use of untrained personnel for critical tasks on building sites. Bigger fines and the risk of jail would reduce noncompliance, said the department's then-director general, Thobile Lamati.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Jan Cronje at Fin24
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