Johannesburg Mayor Dada Morero says the building in Ormonde, where nine people have reportedly died after it collapsed, is a result of the building not being structurally sound.
“Our teams are on the ground establishing the damage and, of course, trying to ascertain the cause. For now, [we believe] it is as a result of a slab that was not properly constructed and the building itself, which is now established as being not structurally sound.
“The owners of this building… should have followed the by-laws of the city. You are not supposed to build in this area. The city is likely to decide once we have assessed the whole report, and we will take steps to demolish the structure because it is non-compliant with our by-laws,” Morero revealed on Tuesday.
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Furthermore, teams from the city have confirmed that the owners did not submit any plans for the structure to the city.
“On inspection, our teams from Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and development planning have confirmed that there were no plans submitted for this structure. Hence, we are also still battling to trace and track the owners of the building. We know that the developer or constructor was still on site even yesterday.
“We are taking steps as the city. Part of the work is establishing the owners of the company that owns this property. There will be an official inquiry so that we can follow up on everything [concerning] this building,” he said.
Morero said the victims’ families have not been informed yet, while investigations continue.
“The investigation has already started and key issues have already been established. The other investigation will be conducted by the police, in terms of those who have passed on.
“Structural reports shouldn’t take us more than a week, as there were no building plans submitted," the Mayor said, adding that approximately two weeks will be needed to complete the investigation. – SAnews.gov.za
