Labour investigation delayed by 'protocols'

The Department of Employment and Labour's (Del) Deputy Minister Jomo Sibiya said his department's health and safety report on the site of the Victoria Street building collapse has not been handed over to the SAPS as their investigations are guided by "certain protocols that are time-consuming".

- Alida de Beer

Sibiya gave feedback on the Del's investigation into the disaster at a joint meeting of the Portfolio Committee (PC) on Human Settlements and the PC on Public Works and Infrastructure in the National Assembly on Wednesday 5 November.

The report is currently with the SAPS and forms part of its criminal investigation.

This was a special session for the SAPS, the Del and George Municipality (GM) to brief the committees on their findings about the collapse.

Sibiya said his department experienced some challenges with the SAPS' investigating team, who he said had "chased away" the Del inspectors from the disaster site who were there to conduct their own investigation. He claims they were "bullied" by the SAPS team who tried to interfere with the Del investigation and opened a case against a Del inspector to obtain the original health and safety files.