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News24 reports that the Engineering Council of SA (ECSA) has imposed a precautionary suspension on the consulting engineer who was overseeing the construction of the apartment block in George that collapsed more than a month ago, killing 34 people.
In a statement on Tuesday, ECSA said the decision was taken as a preventive measure, to protect any potential and/or actual prejudice to public health and safety as a result of engineering-related undertakings. "The precautionary suspension is not a disciplinary action, but a temporary removal of and/or restriction on all of the registered person's rights, privileges, and/or activities associated with professional registration with the ECSA. Council will maintain this suspension until a decision is made regarding the potential charges against the Registered Person and/or the finalisation of any subsequent disciplinary action or appeal,” the statement indicated. While the ECSA did not name the person it was placing on precautionary suspension, it did name the company, namely Mitchell & Associates. Mitchell & Associates was named as the structural and civil engineer for the George building site by developers Neo Victoria Developments in early May, a few days after the deadly collapse. Mitchell & Associates is run by Atholl Mitchell, a registered professional engineering technologist. Last month it was reported that Mitchell was under investigation by the ECSA at the time of the deadly incident for two separate matters. The ECSA's investigating committee in February recommended that Mitchell be charged with various breaches of the ECSA's code of conduct after a complaint was lodged in December last year. The other complaint laid against Mitchell in 2020 related to a project he was supervising in 2018 and 2019, but the investigating committee determined there was insufficient evidence to suggest a transgression of the ESCA's code of conduct.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Noxolo Sibiya at News24
- Read too, Engineering Council of SA places George building engineer on precautionary suspension, at EWN
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page