Ramaphosa: George building collapse a 'wake-up call'
President Cyril Ramaphosa said the collapse of a partially built in George should serve as a wake-up call for authorities and developers.
Ramaphosa visited the disaster site in the Southern Cape town on Thursday.
Last Monday’s collapse killed 33 people, with 19 more still unaccounted for.
Authorities believe 81 people were on site when the building collapsed.
The cause of the collapse is yet to be established.
'What has happened here is a disaster that we never wanted to see happening, and obviously there must have been lapses here and there,” the president said.
“In many ways, this is like a wake-up call to ensure that this never happens again.
"The Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs has been saying from their point of view, as an entity that manages national disasters, they would like to see fewer disasters and we must be more preventative.
"This means we must learn a lot of lessons from what has happened here so that we can get to a point where we say, never again should we go through something as disastrous as this.”
Nevertheless, Ramaphosa said he was impressed by the work of the disaster management officials, who have been tirelessly working since the day of the incident.
"Much as this is a really sad moment where a big catastrophe has befallen our people here in George, my heart has been lightened up by the effort that is going into dealing with this.
"The professionalism, the capability and the knowledge that many of these people displayed. So I am satisfied that as South Africa, we are able to deal with disasters and deal with them in a most effective way.
The president has pledged the government’s support to the families of the victims.
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