Humanity and compassion amid George building collapse disaster

Pride and humanity prevail in George in the Western Cape amid the disaster of a collapsed building. 

Gift of the Givers founder Imtiaz Sooliman beamed with pride as he watched South Africans from all walks of life come together to support the families of the victims of the disaster.

He said a church group from parts of George and rural communities arrived at the site and started praying. 

“You could feel the energy, you could feel the positivity, you could feel the faith and hope this has brought. These people stood out to be a source of comfort to the families of the victims [waiting] in the [community] hall,” said Sooliman.

Despite some of the victims being foreigners, South Africans came to support and show their humanity and compassion to the families, he said.

“Those victims were foreigners, these were South Africans, it mattered not. What mattered is that we show our humanity, our compassion, our spirit of ubuntu, our care.”

He said he had never seen such strong leadership from leaders and communities showing love and care for the plight of foreigners.  

“Not only did the families lose victims but they also lost breadwinners. They came to our country in the hope of a better life and this ended in the ruins of the building in George — but we showed our class and our character.”

South Africa could never fail when its people showed ubuntu, Sooliman said.

On Thursday afternoon, the George municipality said 44 people were still unaccounted for, 37 were retrieved, nine of them dead. It said 33 patients were hospitalised, with 13 still in hospital. 

Workers at the Victoria Street site when the building collapsed on Monday afternoon numbered 81. On Thursday the multidisciplinary rescue team used demolition equipment to lift concrete slabs obstructing access to the lower floors of the building site.

“The meticulous and skilled rescue response to date, which has allowed the recovery of 37 of the 81 trapped workers, has had to proceed carefully to avoid further collapse and injury,” said municipal spokesperson Chantel Edwards-Klose. 

“The decision to switch to using heavy-duty demolition equipment is not taken lightly. The demolition company has created a safe path to drive on over the site, filling in voids that have been thoroughly checked for trapped victims. Rescue techniques continue to be applied meticulously and [with] sensitively at each phase.”

Disaster management said there are enough volunteers at the site, with names of others captured on a waiting list.

Edwards-Klose said the volunteer and donation response from the George community has been overwhelming.

The municipality has asked the public to not respond to requests for volunteers on social media unless such notice is issued by the Garden Route district municipality joint operational centre and/or George municipality. 

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