The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) strongly condemns the deaths of two workers and the trapping of up to 50 more under rubble when a building collapsed in oThongathi, North of Durban in Kwazulu Natal Province.
 
The National Union of Mineworkers wish to pass its heartfelt sympathy to the families of the deceased and those who were trapped in the rubble from the collapsed building at oThongathi.
 
The National Union of Mineworkers is gravely concerned about the accidents in the Construction industry and the lack of intervention from the government authorities like the Inspectorate from the Department of Labour.

As the NUM we have always emphasized the need of the Department of Labour to reinforce its health and safety inspectorate in the Construction and Energy Sector.
 
Construction workers are of the belief that there is collaboration between the inspectors and the employers to hide the occurrence of accidents in the industry and what happened in oThongathi is just a tip of the iceberg.
 
This accident happened immediately when we are still mourning the fatal accidents at Ingula Power Station where 6 workers died, the same thing happened at Richards Bay Minerals where a worker died while we were preparing the memorial service at Ingula Power Station.
 
We therefore demand a transparent investigation to this accident and proper corrective action taken against the employer. The employer must answer to all allegations that they proceeded to build without approved plans, they must also answer as to why they defied the court order as alleged by the eThekwini Municipality. It is also alleged that majority employees are foreign workers who are not registered with the Department of Labour and therefore makes it difficult to get an accurate count of the casualties. The investigation must look at this allegation and at what extent this is happening in the construction industry.
 
We also demand that the directors of this company be arrested immediately if the allegation of defying the court order is proven and they must be responsible for all the cost emanating from this accident.