HOUSING TO GIVE REPORT OF COLLAPSED GARAGE AFTER INVESTIGATION

Mbabane – Following the tragedy which saw an unfinished wall collapse leading to loss of life and damage to cars, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development is conducting an investigation.

This was said by the Principal Secretary (PS) in the ministry, Dr Simon Zwane. The incident occurred at Mhobodleni, a few kilometres from Manzini and the unfinished structure operates as a garage, which trades under the VW Specialists. The structure is a stone’s throw from the Mhlaleni-Nhlambeni road and is significantly visible as one drives on the said road.

loud banging sound

Eyewitnesses have said that they heard a loud banging sound and were shocked when they found that the concrete slab had curved inwards and fell on top of people and cars. The PS was engaged by this publication after questions were raised on the ownership of the land on which the collapsed structure is mounted. This publication gathered that the Municipal Council of Manzini had no control over the area where the structure collapsed. It was then gathered that the land is at Mhobodleni, a small area that the ministry announced was being developed into a township. The ministry did state some time ago that some homesteads were being rezoned to make way for the township. Besides Mhobodleni, the development is meant to cover other nearby areas, such as KaKhoza, Ndofaya and New Village. More than 100 homesteads have been demolished within the four areas, while some have been earmarked for demolition.

low-income earners

When the announcement was made, there was outcry due to the majority of the homesteads belonging to low-income earners, who claimed to have resided in their homesteads for over three decades. The affected homesteads were marked and surveyors, assigned by the Eswatini National Housing Board, assessed the value of the land.

collapsed structure

Worth noting, is that the collapsed structure is situated just a few metres away from where some plush houses that form part of the township have been constructed. This publication wanted to ascertain from the ministry, as to who exactly gave the green light for the structure to be constructed. Also, this publication wanted to ascertain if proper monitoring of the construction exercise was at any point done. This is because, for such structures, periodic inspections have to be conducted to ensure that the builders are following the plan accordingly.
Interviewed by the Times SUNDAY yesterday, Zwane said, “The building that unfortunately collapsed is at Mhobodleni, which is under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development. A full report on the circumstances that led to or contributed to this gross incident will be availed after a full investigation”. He also clarified that the ministry was also verifying if the land is within the boundary of Mhobodleni or not. Also, he said the ministry would further ascertain if the structure itself met all the building requirements. Meanwhile, the family of the man who owns the garage was visited by this publication yesterday at Mhlaleni.

sitting under a tree

During the visit, some relatives were found sitting under a tree while the man, identified as Phinda Shongwe, was moving around next to the gate. Earlier on, he had agreed to meet this reporter to share information on the deceased. At the Shongwe homestead, about four relatives engaged this reporter and requested that Phinda be given a break, as he was not in the right state of mind. They pleaded that they be allowed to at least make a statement on the incident tomorrow, after they had met the relatives of the deceased. When this reporter tried to speak to Phinda, all that he said was, “Kuyabhedza”, which means, “It is bad”. This publication wanted to ascertain if they owned the structure and whether they had followed all the procedures in constructing it. A question was posed to one relative, who claimed to be an elder sister, on whether Phinda ran or rented the structure. In response, the family members told this reporter that they owned the structure. After that, they requested this reporter to give them a few minutes so they could ponder on what to say as a family regarding the loss of lives.

talk to the media

After they had met, they requested that an elder brother be the one to talk to the media, but he had left to look for the relatives of the deceased persons. A phone call was then made by the sister who, after a few minutes handed it over to this reporter to speak to the elder brother. Identifying himself as Trevor, the brother said as a family, they were in the dark about the two deceased persons but had taken the initiative to try and find their families. “As we are talking right now I am all over the place trying to find the families of the deceased. This is a difficult moment for us to say anything,” he said. Meanwhile, during a visit to the collapsed structure just before 1pm, this publication found no one, except for more than five cars that were parked both inside and outside. The parked cars included a white VW Polo, two Audi A4s and others.

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