As part of its ongoing investigation into the October 14 collapse of the temporary walkway bridge between Sandton and Alexandra on the M1 freeway, in which two people were killed, the Department of Labour (DoL) has appointed Lennie Samuel as presiding inspector to head the Section 32 Inquiry.

A forensic investigator and co-commissioner for the Tongaat Mall Structural Collapse Inquiry, Samuel would preside over the formal inquiry to determine if there was any contravention of the Occupational Health and Safety Act and any of its regulations, which led to the uncontrolled collapse of the steel bridge.

DoL chief inspector Tibor Szana in a statement reiterated that no party, including construction company Murray & Roberts (M&R), had been accused of any wrongdoing leading to the untimely collapse of the structure.

The inquiry, which would be held in public, was expected to take six months to complete.

Following this, Samuel would compile a written report that would be forwarded to Szana’s office, who would subsequently hand it over to the National Prosecuting Authority for a decision.

A briefing session would be held on December 8 at the Tshwane municipal offices, in Pretoria, to unveil the terms of reference of the inquiry.

In November, 26 role-players ranging from M&R, legal representatives, the City of Johannesburg, the Johannesburg Roads Agency, engineers, Foamscaff, and all interested parties in the matter met following a request by M&R to seek permission to remove the temporary collapsed structure at the site of the accident.

“The request to remove the collapsed structure was not granted until all stakeholders had sufficiently documented the site of the accident. No stakeholder should feel prejudiced by the removal,” Samuel said.

He added that attendees at the meeting agreed that M&R had to prepare a protocol document highlighting procedures that would be followed, the stages of removal, safety specifications, safety plans and related matters.

M&R had also been requested to circulate all protocol documents by November 20 and, once accepted by all parties, the DoL would consider the request to remove the collapsed structures.

“While all these processes are unfolding, the DoL is still continuing to gather statements and evidence,” Samuel said.