Book thrown at council bigwigs over blaze

APPROPRIATE action should be taken against Joburg Property Company chief executive Helen Botes; Joburg MMC for human settlements Anthea Leitch; and Joburg public safety MMC Dr Mgcini Tshwaku for the decay, overcrowding and dilapidation which festered at the City of Johannesburg’s Usindiso Building where at least 77 people died in an inferno last year.

These are the recommendations of former Constitutional Court judge, Justice Sisi Khampepe, chairperson of the inquiry into the Usindiso building fire.

The recommendations are part of the commission’s part one report which was presented to Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi yesterday.

In the hard-hitting recommendations, the Khampepe commission said the City of Joburg must consider erecting a plaque bearing the names of the 77 people who perished in the August inferno.

She said the process of demolishing the doomed Usindiso building must now be seen to its final implementation.

“Since all contraventions of the national acts and by-laws have been established, the City must engage in an independent process to determine who must bear individual responsibility or liability for each of the contraventions found in our report, and to report any attendant criminal conduct to the relevant authorities for further investigations,” said Judge Khampepe.

“The board of directors of the JPC (Johannesburg Property Company) must consider taking appropriate action against Ms Botes, the chief executive officer of the Johannesburg Property Company, for the total disregard of managing the Usindiso building despite knowledge of the disastrous state of affairs since at least 2019.”

The commission said two witnesses who testified in camera at the inquiry confessing to crimes in the building. This should be probed further for possible prosecution for multiple murders and attempted murders, arson, the obstruction of justice and assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm to the victims where appropriate cases can be made.

She said psycho-social support must be continued, and the Department of Home Affairs should issue identity documents to the residents who lost their papers in the inferno.

“The mayor of Johannesburg (Kabelo Gwamanda) should consider the position of the MMC for the department of human settlement (Leitch); and public safety MMC (Tshwaku) whose political responsibility or lack of oversight conduced to bring about the disaster that was Usindiso.

“The accounting officers of the City’s entities, namely the Johannesburg Property Company, Johannesburg Water, City Power, (and) Pikitup must be subjected to disciplinary processes where there is evidence of contraventions of their duties which if they would have been performed, would have prevented the Usindiso building tragedy,” said Judge Khampepe.

As to liability and responsibility, the report found that the City of Johannesburg and its entities including the Johannesburg Property Company must bear the responsibility in part for what ultimately became the tragedy of August 31, 2023.

Judge Khampepe said in the limited time of the commission’s work, there was not sufficient time to drill down to individuals in the various entities who must bear accountability.