The three firefighters who lost their lives in the fire at the Gauteng Health Department building in Johannesburg, will be honoured with a memorial service, this morning.
Simphiwe Moropane (28), Mduduzi Ndlovu (40) and Khathutshelo Muedi (37) lost their lives while responding to the fire that erupted at The Bank of Lisbon building last Wednesday.
The service will begin with a wreath-laying ceremony at the building before moving to a memorial service at Elis Park.
Johannesburg Mayor Herman Mashaba and Member of the Mayoral Committee (MMC) for Public Safety Michael Sun are expected to attend.
Forensic investigators have commenced with the investigation into the cause of the fire.
The Department of Infrastructure Development in 2017 commissioned an assessment for occupational health and safety of the building. The report, which was presented on 27 August 2018, revealed that The Bank of Lisbon was non-compliant with occupational health and safety (OHS) standards, as it only had 21% compliance against the norm of 85%.
Other affected departments include provincial Human Settlements and Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Health, Social Development and the Office of the Premier.
On Monday, the Gauteng Provincial Government announced that it was evacuating the nine buildings that do not meet the minimum OHS standards so that urgent work can be undertaken to ensure compliance.
The Heads of Departments have instructed officials to report to temporary service sites including regional, district and satellite branches. – SAnews.gov.za
