@george_mun
President Cyril Ramaphosa delivered messages of condolence to the families of the people who died in the George building tragedy while offering support to those whose family members are still missing.
The President received a briefing on the situation on Thursday and went to the site where 33 people lost their lives when a five-storey building under construction collapsed ten days ago.
Authorities said there were an estimated 81 individuals on the site when the incident occurred, while 19 now remain unaccounted for.
President Ramaphosa said that the government was communicating with the various countries from where the deceased came, adding that representatives from Malawi, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Lesotho, were also at the briefing.
President @CyrilRamaphosa is currently receiving a full briefing on the #George disaster including search and recovery operations, extrication of trapped victims, resource mobilisation and investigations underway to establish facts around what led to the disaster.
— The Presidency ???????? (@PresidencyZA) May 16, 2024
The President… https://t.co/7FJ70y0LNW pic.twitter.com/A3zEeEGFiB
He also said there must be accountability concerning the disaster, adding that "investigations are underway" and will cover every aspect that gave rise to this disaster.
"So, we will leave no stone unturned and where there has to be accountability, it will be there. The good thing is that everything is being done by the book," he added.
The President also noted that while "a big catastrophe" had befallen the people of George, he was heartened by the efforts being made to deal with the situation.
"The professionalism, the capability and the knowledge that many of the people who are involved in this have was displayed during the briefing.
"So, I'm satisfied that as South Africa we are able to deal with disasters and deal with them in the most effective way and pull out all stops to deal with this," said President Ramaphosa.
