The Thongathi Mall Commission of Inquiry presiding officer has accused legal representatives of Gralio Precast, the company charged with the construction of the collapsed Tongaat Mall, of not acting in good faith and being economical in bringing the required information before the commission.

Presiding Officer Phumudzo Maphaha has expressed several concerns. He said he sees a developing pattern of inadequacies when it comes to reports that have to be submitted before the commission. He also expressed concerns about the manner in which samples of concrete meant for testing were handled. He said it has come to the attention of the commission that some of the samples that were sent to the laboratory have been destroyed.

Maphaha has accused Gralio Precast‘s legal team of violating an agreement by authorising a separate set of tests of concrete samples without informing the commission. He said representatives of the commission had to be present for all tests done. “I will not allow the tail to wag the dog. The dog should wag the tail. I hope that you will bring the person/party that conducted the further tests before the commission for explanation,” he said.

According to Maphaha, he received a phone call from representatives of Gralio Precast, informing him that they were conducting concrete tests and asked him to immediately come and monitor the process. He said he could not attend as this too short a notice and without a prior warning and cautioned them against doing so as this was tantamount to tampering to evidence.

“These latest developments are making me worried. We have given the contractor 29 tubes for testing and we now have extra samples that were tested. I need answers.” Maphaha told Gralio Precast legal representatives they would have to answer on the latest anomalies.

It has also come before the commission that there were people who had visited the site of the mall. Maphaha cautioned all parties that no one is allowed to visit the site without authorisation from the Department of Labour.

Maphaha said, according to photos in the commission’s possession, a section of the mall in which there we two supporting columns, where the commission gathered evidence, has since been flattened.

Commission timeline

The Commission is expected to have received all reports by 13 June.

On 17 June the Tongaat Mall project engineers are expected to meet with the commission.

Between 9 and 11 July the Tongaat Mall Commission of Inquiry is expected to have another sitting in which the engineers’ testimony will take centre stage.

Thereafter, the commission will take a break and resume from July 21-25.

Expected to testify will be Ronnie Pillay, a foreman at the site of the mall during its collapse. Jay Singh the owner of the developing company, Gralio Precast will also be expected to submit his evidence before the commission.

It is expected that that by August 2014 parties will be offered an opportunity to make a presentation of heads of arguments. Thereafter, the commission will have at least 60 days to prepare a report of its findings. The hearings are being held at the municipal offices of the North Coast town of oThongathi.