George building disaster: 34 dead, 32 identified

The death toll from the building collapse in Victoria Street in George was confirmed at 34 after one more man, Chisomo Biton, who was in critical condition, died in hospital on Friday.

Thirty-two people have been identified. Of these, nine are from South Africa, 11 from Malawi, two from Lesotho, seven from Mozambique and three from Zimbabwe.

According to Megan Davids, a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Wellness, the Western Cape Department of Health and Wellness Forensic Pathology Services confirmed the total number of deceased earlier today and said they are awaiting correct documentation from two families before the formal process can be followed.

Nine people are still in hospital.

Call to help with repatriation

Avbob George has offered its funeral services free of charge to victims, including embalming, the casket, the admin involved and permits to cross the border. However, this does not include the transportation fee to various venues and countries. Families have to arrange this themselves.

According to Avbob’s Gert Niehaus, 10 people should be buried by the end of the weekend, five in South Africa and five in other parts of Africa.

“We have managed to reduce the price to fly the deceased’s remains from George to their home countries,” said Niehaus.

“However, due to cultural differences, it is not only the deceased who needs to travel, it is the entire family who travels with him or her, so they mainly rely on road transport. We offer to assist with transportation arrangements, but most of them [families] arrange it themselves.”

Deputy Minister of International Relations Alvin Botes says efforts are underway to repatriate those who died and called on members of the public and the private sector to help send their bodies back home. Repatriation can take up to two weeks.

Botes says they are engaging with mission representatives from Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe.

However, according to family members of the deceased, they have not been seen by anyone to assist them.

Steven Phiri, brother of the deceased 19-year-old Malawian Florence Kawonga, who worked at the construction site as a cleaner, says they have had no assistance from the Malawian or South African government to repatriate his sister’s body or others who are deceased.

“Normally when we have to bury someone and transport them from here to Malawi, the whole Malawian community puts money together. But that is normally for only one person; we have many and we have to pay for it ourselves,” he says.

Another family member of one of the deceased confirms what Phiri said. She told George Herald that they have had no assistance from any government with repatriating the remains of their loved ones.

“We have made a group now and ask everyone on the group for R200 to contribute towards the costs. It is very expensive. We have never buried any of our Malawian people here; it is not our culture,” she says.

Support for families

Speaking to the families during a site visit on May 16, President Cyril Ramaphosa praised the co-operation between different levels of government and non-governmental organisations.

“We know that many of you are in grief. There’s no worse grief than people who have lost their loved ones… We are here to give comfort and there will be a need for… psychosocial support. And when that is the case, we will have people who will give that support.

“There will be assistance for those who are in hospital to be well treated, there will be assistance for those who have to be buried. There will also be compensation that will have to go through the channels of our various institutions,” he said.