Ceremony marks the date of Tongaat mall collapse

BUSINESSMAN Jay Singh is confident that the Tongaat mall will be completed despite the collapse last year that led to the deaths of two people and injuries to 29 others.

The controversial contractor and his son, Ravi Jagadasen, attended a wreath-laying ceremony at the site on Wednesday to mark the first anniversary of the collapse.

The brief ceremony was held at the request of the Tongaat mall inquiry commission.

After an interfaith prayer service, Singh’s spokesman, Mervin Reddy, told those gathered that Singh had not forgotten the two “family members” who died when the structure caved in last year.

He said there were plans to honour the two workers, Zakithi Nxumalo and Zwelibanzi Masuku, when the mall was completed.

“We have decided that once this mall is complete to lay a plaque or a fountain in memory of these two individuals who passed on. They were like family. It was the family who would have the realisation of this mall, not an individual,” he said.

But commission chairman Phumudzo Maphaha said the inquiry still had a way to go before any decisions could be made about the future of the structure.

“I think that is more of a personal opinion. It is not the opinion of the commission. I respect that idea, but we still have work to do,” he said.

Maphaha said he believed, however, that the commission was not in vain.

“It will go further in terms of assisting the construction industry for future development. I recall one person who said after we cross-examined him: ‘I will never do business the same way again.’ To me this means that the commission has achieved half of the objective, which is for us to learn.” Singh did not address the media. Relatives of Nxumalo and Masuku were unable to attend the ceremony.