eThekwini Municipality denies oversight failure in Verulam building collapse, claims construction was covert
EThekwini city manager Musa Mbhele and mayor Cyril Xaba at a press briefing held on Thursday about the reasons behind the Redcliffe, Verulam building collapse.
Image: EThekwini Municipality
The eThekwini Municipality has rejected suggestions of a systemic breakdown in its building control systems, saying the collapsed structure in Verulam was constructed covertly in a conservation area after the developer bypassed established approval processes.
Five people died when the building collapsed last Friday.
Municipal manager Musa Mbhele said the City had lawfully approved six other buildings on the same site, all of which were issued with occupancy certificates and constructed in line with approved plans.
“That really reflects a duty of care on the city’s side,” Mbhele said, adding that officials were “very surprised” when the developer proceeded to erect an additional building “under the cover of secrets” within about four to six months.
Mayor Cyril Xaba said the city supported the preliminary findings tabled by Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Dean Macpherson and would implement all recommendations. “Such incidents have no place in our city and must never be allowed to happen again,” Xaba said, adding that the municipality would support efforts to ensure those responsible are held accountable.
According to Mbhele, the collapsed building encroached on the Durban Metropolitan Open Space System, a protected conservation area where development is prohibited without a stringent approval process involving environmental and biodiversity authorities. “We can only assume that that one, because it is so cumbersome, they probably found a very easy way out,” he said.
He warned against what he described as a “problematic narrative” that links a series of building collapses over the past decade to failures by the City.
“Unless there is evidence that points to a systematic governance collapse in the city, leading to the collapse of the buildings, we’ll be prepared to take that. That is not true,” Mbhele said.
Mbhele said enforcement action by the municipality in previous cases demonstrated the seriousness with which illegal construction was tackled, citing the collapse of Tongaat Mall. “We had served 10 notices… we obtained a court order. They still ignored the court. We went to press for contempt. Between that process… the building collapsed,” he said.
He also pointed to soil instability and climate-related factors as recurring risks in the metro. Mbhele said studies had long warned of weak soil conditions in parts of eThekwini, made worse by heavy rainfall, requiring stringent approvals and geological surveys that often delayed projects. “We are doing everything under these particular circumstances,” he said.
The site has been declared a crime scene and is the subject of ongoing technical, criminal, and labour investigations.