Honourable Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure, Dean Macpherson Honourable MEC of Public Works in KwaZulu-Natal, Martin Meyer

His Worship the Mayor of Ethekwini, Cllr Cyril Xaba

On behalf of the CBE, I wish to convey our sincere condolences Colleagues from various spheres of government

Members of Media Good morning

I have been given a responsibility of providing you with an update of Preliminary Technical findings and observations

These findings must be understood to be strictly for situational awareness and to inform immediate decision-making prior the commencement of formal enquiry

Over the past decade there has been several structural related incidents with the jurisdiction of the eThekwini metro.

To paint a picture:

  • In 2011, a house at 37 Avoca Road” which had no approved plans collapsed during

construction.

  • In November 2013, the Tongaat Mall collapsed during
  • In March 2018, a building collapsed in
  • In June 2020, a building collapsed in Central
  • In January 2025, a structural collapse in Tongaat near King Shaka International
  • In March 2025, a building collapsed in Phoenix whilst under
  • In June 2025, construction site collapsed in
  • In December 2025 the temple building in Redcliffe, Verulam,

In our view this suggests that there is a need for greater focus on systemic and governance issues within the development planning, facilitation and building control processes and construction related processes which the built environment and construction sector operates.

The CBE Act 43 of 2000 Mandates us as a council for the built environment to:

  • facilitate interministerial cooperation concerning issues relating to the built environment – Section 4(e)
  • initiate investigations into matters pertaining to the built environment – Section 4 (l)
  • Advise government on any matter falling within the scope of the built environment– Section 4(a),

As a response to the River Ranch Redcliffe collapse, CBE activated its Emergency Incident Response Protocol that was developed after the George Building Collapse

The Emergency Incident Response Protocol requires the CBE to:

  • Within 72 hours to provide the Minister of DPWI and government with the Preliminary findings on the incident that may have occurred concerning the built environment.
  • Coordinate the investigation from a built-environment perspective, focusing on the technical and structural dimensions of the collapse;
  • Undertake the investigation as well as the conduct, roles, and inter-relationships of registered and unregistered built-environment professionals involved in the project;
  • Holds the sole responsibility of producing a formal investigation report for various government structures.

The construction of multi-storey building is legislatively governed. The primary legislation governing the design and construction of a multi-storey building such as that at River ranch Temple are the:

  1. National Building Regulations and Building Standards Act of 1977 (Act no 103 of 1977) (NBRBSA) and related National Building Regulations (NBRs) which regulates the erection of a building; and
  2. Occupational Health and Safety Act of 1993 (Act 95 of 1993) (OHSA) and associated Construction Regulations (CR) which regulates construction activities on a site.

These two Acts establish gates or stop / decision points which need to be passed to proceed to the next stage at key stages in design and construction as indicated below:

 

Gate 1     NBRBSA – No person may without prior local authority approval erect any building in respect of which plans and specifications are to be drawn and submitted.

OHSA CRs – Where required, no construction work may be commenced or carried out before a construction work permit is issued.

Gate 2             NBRBSA NBRs – No person shall proceed with the erection of a building unless a notice to the local authority has been given on the date on which erection will proceed.

OHSA CRs – Notwithstanding the requirements for a construction work permit, a contractor must at least 7 days before work is carried out notify the provincial director who may undertake inspections as the works proceed

Gate 3 NBRBSA – A local authority issues Certificate of Occupancy if satisfied that the building has been erected in accordance with the Act.

 

The preliminary investigation made a total of 13 findings which have been boardly categorised in the following categories:

  1. Contravention and Non-compliance to legislation governing the built environment and construction:
    • We confirm that the structure was a four -storey reinforced concrete building, with concrete columns and flat slabs with masonry infill panels.
    • Contravention of National Building Regulations and Building Standards, Municipal By-laws , Occupational Health and Safety Act, Spatial Land Use Management Act, and violation of health and safety.
    • We conclude that the River Ranch Temple was unauthorized, unlawful and unsupervised, Illegal
  2. Sub-standard material and construction methods
    • The samples were subjected to concrete lab testing where the preliminary testing confirmed excessive voids in the concrete and a breach of standard concrete
  3. Formwork
    • The formwork appears to have triggered the collapse of the
  4. Slabs and Concrete
    • Slabs appear to be very thin, inadequately reinforced, and not very

The CBE will undertake a detailed investigative enquiry into the River Ranch temple Collapse in Redcliffe, through an integrated three-component approach comprising:

  1. a technical investigation (Structural, engineering considerations, and compliance with applicable building codes, standards, and regulations)
  2. a governance and regulatory enquiry (The roles, conduct, and accountability of built-environment professionals involved, oversight, inspection, and municipal approval processes across the development lifecycle), and
  3. an analysis    of    systemic    and    structural    weaknesses, to    inform practical recommendations aimed at preventing similar incidents in future.

To restate the investigation will encompass the following:

Professional and governance enquiry: CBE and other regulators will undertake this as mandated by their respective legislations

Criminal enquiry: it is a court of law working with law enforcement agencies will determine if negligence caused the deaths of 5 individuals and injuries to 11 others

As the CBE, we submit, that in the immediate, the outcome of the Preliminary Technical Report on the collapse of the River Ranch Temple in Redcliffe, must be implemented through a Government Wide and Nation-wide Programme led by the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure and supported by CBE of:

  • detecting illegal building activities across towns, cities and villages
  • enforcing ready mix concrete suppliers to notify building control whenever large volumes of concrete are delivered to a construction site; and
  • community based campaign to communities on the importance of compliance with building approvals and relevant statutory processes as part of the public safety (understands requirements and procedures, given the dearth of such material).

 

Issued by:

Dr Msizi Myeza

Chief Executive Officer

Council for the Built Environment Tel: 012 346 3985

www.cbe.org.za

 

Enquiries:

Ms Sinah Ndala Communications Practitioner

Mobile : 078 423 1942

Email : sinah@cbe.org.za