Bylaw breach sees inquiry into Usindiso fire postponed

The commission of inquiry into the Usindiso building fire has been postponed as the designated venue was found to be non-compliant with the City of Johannesburg’s bylaws.

Chaired by retired judge Sisi Khampepe, the commission was initially set to begin in September but was postponed to Thursday last week. Its work is falling behind as the deadline for the submission of the first report was earmarked for sometime before or on December 30.

“Today’s proceedings have to be postponed because the commission has been served with a notice by the city’s emergency management services that the venue is not complaint with the bylaws of the city,” said Khampepe.

“The commission is looking at securing a new venue.”

The new date and venue will be announced in due course.

It was not clarified what the nature of the breach was.

Last week the commission heard testimony on how the city's monitoring camera system and a call to the call centre at 1.19am triggered their response to the fire that killed 77 people on August 31.

Only one door at the now-gutted building could be used to gain access to the hijacked building, as the remaining routes were either blocked or sealed off using a variety of unsuitable materials.

The building also had no fire extinguishers or fire hoses. Some of the staircases were blocked and converted into makeshift rooms.

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