Death in a dust cloud
After the shock, townsfolk pull together
● George town planner Jan Vrolijk seldom walked past 75 Victoria Street without thinking about his involvement in the planning approval process for the new apartment block.
Minutes after he walked past the five-storey building on Monday it collapsed, sending up a plume of dust, and causing horror and heartache that has gripped the nation. A rescue team about 700 strong raced against time to find 81 workers entombed under 3,000t of concrete and steel.
By day five of the rescue operations yesterday, the death toll had risen to 13, with 39 people still unaccounted for.
The town’s worst tragedy saw an outpouring of compassion and humanity as people from all walks of life rolled up their sleeves to help and cheered each time a survivor was pulled to the surface.
Sniffer dogs from the police, Gift of the Givers and the K9 Search and Rescue Association (Sara) were the heroes in locating survivors.
The survivors included Mossel Bay electrician Delvin Safers who communicated with family and rescuers via cellphone, saying he was in pain and losing hope.
It’s been harrowing for family and relatives of those still waiting for word.
Malawian Leonard Kapemera was among those desperately clinging to hope. He travelled from Polokwane in Limpopo to comfort his younger brother Francis, whose wife Irene, a cleaner in the building, was still missing on Friday.
“The waiting is terrible. We can do nothing. We hope and pray that she is still alive,” he said, reading a Bible in front of the town hall in York Street.
“I had a client in my office, right next to this building,” a shaken Vrolijk told the Sunday Times. “We had a meeting at the municipality, we left and walked right past it. Ten minutes later the building was gone.
“You just can’t imagine it. I can’t believe it, it’s scary.”
Around the corner from the construction site, Richard McKnight heard a loud rumbling he assumed was an earthquake. Desk vibrating, he ran outside but could not make sense of what he saw. Dust was everywhere. Struggling to breathe, he pulled his shirt over his face.
Then came the desperate cries for help.
“It was only then that I realised what was going on,” said McKnight, also a town planner, whose office is less than 100m from the site.
He saw only one person lying on the rubble and described it as the most horrific experience of his life.
Speaking from a hospital bed hours after being rescued on Wednesday, Valdo Makamo told Sunday Times sister publication The Herald: “I was on the second floor ... It was very difficult for me to breathe and I started to lose hope. It felt like I was dying; that’s the feeling I had under all the stones and sand.”
Herman Philander and Rachelle Fritz laid flowers on Friday afternoon near the city hall. They had no friends or family on the site but wanted to show solidarity and sympathise with those who had lost loved ones.
For Vrolijk, the tragedy is all the more surreal, having worked hard to ensure there was municipal town planning approval for the project, which he finally secured in late 2022. The development concept and rezoning was all in order, as well as various departures.
“The town planning application was done according to the municipal bylaws. I obtained all the approvals, gave them the approval letters, then stepped away.”
Everything was on track.
Exactly what happened is the subject of investigation which is likely to take some time. Under focus will be the strength of the concrete used, dimensions of the columns and the calculations used when the building plans were altered to go from four storeys to five to accommodate basement parking.
Experts must piece together a complex timeline of decisions and project milestones involving multiple stakeholders. Already the blame game is proving difficult, with the developer Neotrend seeking to distance itself from its building contractor.
Deon van Zyl, chair of the Western Cape Property Development Forum, said: “It is understandable that everybody wants quick answers. The reality is that it will take some time to find out what caused this tragic accident.”
He added: “The tragedy reaffirms that construction sites are dangerous, and that health and safety controls are non-negotiable.”
Channel Fourie, developer Neotrend’s media spokesperson, provided a list of entities involved in the development and construction of the building:
Owner of the land: Neo Victoria Developments; development co-ordination and management: Neotrend Developments & East Africa Development; development contractor in control of the construction and building site: Liatel Developments; structural and civil engineer: Mitchell & Associates; project architect: Deon van der Westhuizen Architects; principal agent: Mitchell & Associates; quantity surveyor: Matla Quantity Surveyors; health & safety officer: 4Front Safety and Security Consultants; electrical engineer: Clinkscales Maughan-Brown; fire engineer: Duane Hodges Consulting Engineer.
Neotrend offered its condolences to the bereaved. Neotrend was described on its website, before going offline this week, as an experienced property development group based in George.
“We offer extensive property development and real estate management services to investors, shareholders, tenants and buyers. We have been in the industry since 1997, formed by Carel Swanepoel.
“During 2002 real estate management was added to our portfolio. Neotrend brings to their projects the expertise and resource necessary for the execution of real estate developments from start to finish.”