Johannesburg’s MMC for economic development on Tuesday told the commission of inquiry into the Usindiso disaster that she was not politically liable for the deaths that occurred, though she admitted there had been negligence.
Nomoya Mnisi’s department oversees the custodian of the Usindiso building, the Johannesburg Property Company (JPC).
“We dropped the ball. We did not do due diligence after our stakeholder who was responsible for overseeing the building was manhandled. [We] had to open a case.
“[But] our dropping the ball had nothing to do with people dying in Usindiso. I’m not sure why the commission picks on 'dropping' and feels strongly that it has any alignment of the death of people,” Mnisi said.
It's common sense that if a building is hijacked, it will not be complaint because whoever hijacked it would not pay for water and electricity
— Nomoya Mnisi, Joburg MMC for economic development
Asked whether she would take political oversight accountability for the deaths, she said “no”, adding that people must stop illegally occupying buildings in the city.
“It's common sense that if a building is hijacked, it will not be compliant because whoever hijacked it would not pay for water and electricity,” said Mnisi.
Evidence leader advocate Ishmael Semenya was often agitated by Mnisi’s answers, saying she was not direct in her responses.
Last week Helen Botes, CEO of the JPC, told the commission that the building was “captured” in December 2019 after the owners of the shelter lost their funding and their contract could not be renewed.
“We could not take measures. There was no budget and it became a difficult hurdle to cross. To evict the people, one had to build alternative accommodation or find an empty building in the inner city. It’s more of a hurdle compared to the budget,” Botes testified.
She told the commission that they had failed to follow up on the compliance with bylaws in the building.
Following up, Semenya put it to Mnisi that the duties of an owner of a building do not disappear just because it is hijacked.
Asked if there would be consequences for Botes, Mnisi said that they would not be running processes parallel to the commission.
“As the city, we cannot hire or fire a CEO of any entity [but a board can]. My role is of oversight, it ends there. I cannot give the board instructions,” she replied.
“There is no budget for hijacked buildings,” Mnisi emphasised.
Eric Raboshakga, director of the city's transformation and spatial development department, earlier testified that a responsible city would have, after such a tragedy, done a thorough inspection.
He conceded that there was noncompliance with bylaws in the building.
“The inspections would have revealed a lot of things that would have been useful to the commission, particularly after the incident,” said Raboshakga.
“Nothing was done from a bylaw vetting perspective. We are developing a strategy of looking at demolishing buildings that are not compliant. That requires acquiring land and getting alternative accommodation. That’s where the city’s challenge lies.”
The deadly fire at the Marshalltown building left 77 people dead, among them children and pregnant women. Scores of people were injured.
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