The rubble of the collapsed multi-storey construction site at 75 Victoria Street in George. As emergency workers continue to search for people buried beneath the debris, questions about the cause of the tragedy swirl. Picture: Ayanda Ndamane/ Independent Newspapers
Durban — The George building collapse tragedy leaves more questions than answers. Questions around shoddy workmanship, quality of the materials used and whether due diligence was followed. Also, on what grounds had the structural engineer given the go-ahead? Did the building inspector sign off every floor as and when it was completed in order to move on to the next level?
For most of the week officials said the number of workers on site was 75, only to find out – a few days into the search – that six additional people were unaccounted for, bringing the total number of people to 81.
A number of those workers have been pulled from the rubble after the under-construction building caved in. Fourteen, including nine who made it out alive, have died, and several remain unaccounted for.
A structural engineer has started investigating the cause of the collapse, but these probes infamously take months to complete. That’s little solace for the grieving families.
Here in KwaZulu-Natal, however, hundreds of families are celebrating the accomplishments of those being capped at the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s ongoing graduation season.
Graduation is the product of years of study, more for those who go beyond the Bachelor’s degree and those in some sciences.
But while some can study in relative comfort, returning to a stable home environment, never having to worry about food, transport or data, for others it is years of real struggle, and graduation is a moment of real triumph, in some cases over truly awful circumstances.
Government funds only take them so far; students must still contend with conditions at residences. Some are parents, and some are in charge of child-headed households, balancing care for younger siblings with studies.
Many of the research topics chosen by the graduates are relevant and important to the societies in which they live, and to the future of mankind.
It is to be hoped that their success translates to improved circumstances for themselves, their families and the country.
Independent on Saturday