Ormonde collapse: Over 30 buildings linked to owner suspected of non-compliance

· Citizen

Mass non-compliance with building regulations and by-laws has been revealed across the suburb where nine people were killed in a structural collapse.

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The City of Johannesburg municipality on Monday raided a property in Ormonde and shut down developments that posed a potential risk to occupants.

The owner of the inspected developments is the same developer responsible for a building that collapsed at a business park in southern Johannesburg in early March.

An industry oversight body warned that more than a third of South Africa’s construction sector operated outside of formal controls.

The body highlighted that site control and labour compliance were as much to blame for deadly structural collapses as poor workmanship.

Hotel development owes almost R20 million

The city’s compliance inspection focused on The Lakewood Hotel, a sprawling mixed-use development in Ormonde.

Officials noted the development covered three separate stands and had accumulated roughly R19.5 million in unpaid rates.

The bill grew as a result of bypassed meters, with the city confirming that adherence to “building controls and national building regulations” was widely absent.

“They even managed to encroach on our pavement area. Where our water infrastructure used to be on the pavement, it is now on the interior and in the yard of the hotel.

“We will be closing down the property. We have ordered our forensic team to do a forensic audit on this particular company, and we will be able to conclude in the next two weeks,” said Johannesburg City Manager Floyd Brink.

Loss of building plan revenue

Further inspections across the area led to the issuance of multiple compliance notices and the closure of a construction site and two office parks, with service disconnections at a further three properties.

“Preliminary findings have revealed a deeply concerning pattern of widespread non-compliance across more than 30 properties in the area, including hotels, office parks, and residential buildings,” the city stated.

“The company owns 30 or so properties in the Ormonde area. Five properties were checked yesterday, which all had compliance issues. The city will have the rest checked within the next month,” the city told The Citizen.

Multiple building plan irregularities are also under investigation, with the city placing the revenue loss from non-compliance at R10 million.

Business activities across the area were disrupted, with the city manager stressing that safety was paramount.

“It is deeply regrettable that innocent tenants and workers are affected; however, the cost of non-compliance cannot be measured against human life.

“We urge the property owner to urgently address all compliance issues to restore safe operations,” said Brink.

‘You can delegate work, not accountability’

Leaning on International Labour Organisation statistics, the Building Industry Bargaining Council (BIBC) stated that although 38% of the construction sector could be considered non-compliant, the causes of tragedy varied.

“Building collapses are often framed as engineering or safety failures, but we repeatedly see a breakdown in labour compliance and site control.

“When workers are not registered, documented, and traceable, the system fails,” said BIBC spokesperson Danie Hattingh.

He explained that farming responsibilities out to subcontractors and labour brokers allowed for a “distortion” of the market, while leaving contractors open to unforeseen liability.

“You can delegate work, not accountability. When things go wrong, the law looks past contracts. The principal contractor remains accountable,” said Hattingh.

He urged contractors to register workers so that labour could be traced, recorded, and protected against exploitation.

“Off-book workers don’t appear on site registers. In a collapse, they become invisible – delaying rescue, complicating investigations, and deepening distress for families,” Hattingh concluded.

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