JOBURG FIRE: REPORT ‘IGNORED’
Firefighters die after report declaring building a death trap was ignored by authorities
SHOCKING revelations have emerged that authorities ignored a report which declared the Bank of Lisbon Building a death trap long before yesterday’s deadly fire.
Gauteng Infrastructure and Development MEC Jacob Mamabolo said just last week an internal report revealed that the building in Joburg was only 21% compliant with safety regulations.
Overlooking the report led to the tragic deaths of three firemen yesterday.
Before a building can be deemed safe for occupation it has to meet 85% of the occupational, safety and health standards.
Despite numerous warnings and complaints from employees and unions, no action was taken to move workers from the departments of Human Settlements, Health and Co-operative Governance and Traditional affairs.
Yesterday, the three firefighters died during the rescue mission and least 13 employees from the department were rushed to hospital.
“We will take measures and make sure that we vacate and move people out of those buildings depending on the degree of noncompliance,” said Mamabolo.
It was not the first incident at the building.
In June, it was evacuated after a faulty light bulb caused a lot of smoke.
In November last year, the Department of Labour issued a prohibition notice to Human Settlement and COGTA concerning a complaint over sewage and drinking water as well as dust caused by renovations.
It was revoked in December but there were four floors in the building that were still noncompliant, according to acting head of the Human Settlements Department Joseph Zulu.
The National Health Education and Allied Workers Union (Nehawu) said yesterday that the building on Pixley Seme Street, formerly Sauer Street, was a “ticking time bomb”.
“We see this as a case of complete negligence and disregard for people’s lives. We have been cautioning them but nothing was done. The fire was expected. The government must take full responsibility for the deaths,” said Nehawu Gauteng deputy secretary Gracia Rikhotso.
Joburg emergency services spokesperson Nana Radebe said one of the firefighters died from smoke inhalation, one was partly burnt and the other slipped and fell to his death.
Radebe said the man who slipped didn’t have a harness on and was in the building to assess the extent of the fire and look for trapped employees. While evacuating workers, he slipped off the 23rd-floor window.
She said: “The first thing when you get in a building is to search for people. The people who are working at the building couldn’t confirm if there were still others trapped inside,” she said.
Firefighters used trucks and a helicopter and it took them until early evening to contain the fire. Radebe said the structure was too dark and rescue workers couldn’t use fire hydrants in the building because the water pressure there was low.
“The pressure being low might be because of no maintenance or people using the fire hydrant water for other things,” Radebe said.
Public Servants Association spokesperson Tahir Sema said there was no evacuation call or fire marshals to assist the employees in the building.
“Many people on lower floors did not know about the fire until they were alerted by people fleeing the building,” revealed Maepa.
Rikhotso and a security guard both said there was a sewage spill in the building about three weeks ago.
“We have been battling this for years. The people who work on B1 were moved to another part of the building,” said the security officer.
Democratic Nursing Organisation of SA provincial chairperson Simphiwe Gada said it was worrying that the blaze engulfed only the 23rd floor where the legal department was based.
“We find it interesting that the legal department is busy conducting an investigation on corruption within the department, where culprits who have been draining the coffers of the department could be pinpointed. We hope there is no foul play,” Gada said.
Provincial Department of Labour spokesperson Mishack Magakwe said inspectors have been assigned to investigate the cause of the fire and a preliminary report would be released soon.