National
Tongaat Mall collapse inquiry resumes─── 09:47 Mon, 21 Jul 2014
Durban - An expert engineer, Dr Piet Pretorius, is expected to be the first witness called when the inquiry into the Tongaat Mall collapse resumes on Monday.
Pretorius is expected to testify in relation to the bracing of the construction site.
Bracing is a procedure whereby supports are put up to strengthen and reinforce building structures -- allowing them to handle particular weight loads.
Two workers, Zakithi Nxumalo and Zwelibanzi Masuku, were killed and 29 people injured when a concrete slab from a partially built mall collapsed on November 19, 2013.
In February this year, a commission of inquiry tasked with finding out the cause of the collapse began its hearings.
The most recent focus of the hearings has been about three weak points -- a beam and two columns -- that engineers have identified as the possible triggers for the collapse.
Previously Rob Young, the engineer for the contractor Gralio Precast, said the only issue that the various engineers were still arguing about was whether the part of the site under investigation was braced.
The labour department's occupational health and safety manager Phumudzo Maphaha -- along with two co-presiding officers -- is leading the commission. After the completion of the hearings, the commission is expected to prepare a report on its findings and formulate recommendations to be given to the labour minister and the director of public prosecutions.
Sapa
