Ivaldo Macamo lost his leg when the George building collapsed. He is still waiting for compensation

Ivaldo Macamo will struggle to find work again. In May, he lost his leg in a building collapse in George that shocked the nation.

A plasterer from Mozambique with more than a decade of experience, Macamo now mostly spends his time at home in an informal settlement in Thembalethu, George. Whenever he wants to go out, he has to navigate muddy, uneven pathways with crutches.

Macamo is one of 28 survivors. Thirty-four people died when the four-storey apartment block they were building collapsed on 6 May. The cause of the collapse is still unknown and the South African Police Service, the Western Cape government, and the Department of Labour and Employment are still investigating.

GroundUp met Macamo and his friend, Virgilio Sitoe, at Macamo’s home in Thembalethu last week. Both have wives and small children living with them. Macamo and Sitoe were trapped in the rubble of the building for more than 48 hours before they were rescued. Sitoe’s feet were crushed and would have been amputated at George Hospital were it not for the last-minute intervention of a senior doctor.

Sitoe said he has tried to work again. But after two days, the pain in his feet and back was unbearable and he had to go home.

None of the survivors or family members of the deceased that GroundUp spoke to has received any payout from the Unemployment Insurance Fund or the Compensation Fund. The subcontractors who employed the workers have been of little help in navigating a slow, bureaucratic process with the Department of Employment and Labour.

Most of the survivors are not South African, which poses a host of challenges. Some were employed without valid papers and are not legally allowed to work. They are unlikely to get compensation.

Last week, one of the survivors, a man from Malawi who wished to remain anonymous, was arrested when he went to the police station in Thembalethu to have his documents certified for his UIF application. He was released a few hours later, after intervention from the local captain, a source with knowledge of the matter told GroundUp.

Several of the survivors who do not have valid papers told GroundUp that they are scared to speak to the police with information about what happened on the day of the collapse, because they risk being arrested and deported.

Others have valid papers, but it is an arduous process to apply for compensation. They say Department of Labour staff are unhelpful, and they are sent back and forth between the Department of Health for medical records, their employers for payslips and contracts, and the Department of Labour.

Most of the victims and survivors were employed by two subcontractors: Bo Shova and Father and Sons. Neither company responded to our requests for comment.

The George Municipality has raised a R173,000 fund, administered by a non-profit organisation. The money will be divided among the families, said municipality spokesperson Chantèl Edwards.

Ina Bezuidenhout, a lawyer who specialises in occupational health and safety, has been meeting the survivors. Bezuidenhout says that the employer usually plays a key role in submitting compensation claims to the Department of Labour.

“But in this tragedy, the victims are largely left to fend for themselves, often incurring expenses to visit the various officials, just to be informed that additional information is required, or that the wrong information was obtained,” Bezuidenhout said during a recent meeting with survivors.

They are hoping that once the findings of the investigation are made public, it will become clearer as to who bears responsibility for the collapse. Legal action to seek compensation could then be considered.

Many of the survivors told GroundUp that they are experiencing terrifying flash-backs since the building collapse. Macamo said he struggles to sleep and he is still mourning the death of his friends. He said he received a form for referral for psychosocial support from the Western Cape Department of Social Development in mid-October.

Elelwani Mawela, who was a health and safety officer on the site, now lives with her family in Limpopo. She described in detail how she spent two months in hospital, during which she had extensive facial surgery.

She remembers not being able to open her eyes for most of her time in hospital; she was wide awake, but could not see anything. At night, she would get nightmares and was unable to sleep.

Mawela says she would benefit from counselling, but she has now left the province so the Western Cape Department of Social Development is unable to help her.

SURVIVORS' FAMILIES

We spoke to some of the family members of those who died in the building, who explained the ordeal of having to travel to George at short notice, identify the bodies of their loved ones, and organise to have the bodies repatriated for burial.

Local funeral parlour AVBOB provided free coffins and embalming services, but repatriation of the bodies cost upwards of R25,000 each.

Lizzie Ndlovu, niece of Phineas Ndlovu who died in the building collapse, said that her uncle’s wife and children who live in Zimbabwe now have no source of income.

Ndlovu is a domestic worker in Johannesburg. She is close to giving up trying to get compensation from the Department of Labour. She has already had to travel to George twice: once to collect her uncle’s body and another time to access his medical records. She has not been successful in applying for UIF or Worker’s Compensation.

Blessed Ngere, a pastor and a leader of the Zimbabwean community in George, explained how the community mobilised in the days after the collapse to host the family members of those who died. Although people did not know many of the Zimbabweans working on the site, families opened their doors and raised funds to help pay the cost of transporting bodies back home.

Ngere says that beyond financial compensation, people need answers about what happened.

In the meanwhile, the survivors who are still based in George were being supported with food parcels by local organisations such as the Round Table, Rotary Club and Lions Club.

The Department of Employment and Labour did not respond to GroundUp’s questions.