THE Department of Employment and Labour went knocking on Southern Sun Hotel's doors with inspection papers.
This after parts of the hotel in Rosebank, north of Joburg sustained partial damage with the roof above the hotel restaurant collapsing as a result of a hailstorm on Monday, 13 October.
The inspection, which started on Tuesday, 14 November and is expected to continue on Wednesday, 15 November, will be used to, among other things, test compliance levels with all employment laws that are regulated by the department.
Leading the inspection with chief inspector, Milly Ruiters, the inspector general, Aggy Moiloa told Daily Sun investigations started on Tuesday to determine what caused the collapse.
"We are doing a full blown inspection. We are looking at the compliance of all other laws in terms of this incident itself which will fall under occupational health and safety as well as other employment laws that we enforce such as the basic conditions of employment, compliance with unemployment insurance, national minimum wage and more," she said.
On Monday, parts of Joburg were hit by a severe hailstorm. At the time, Emergency Medical Service spokesman Robert Mulaudzi described it as a "hectic night" when they responded to the storm, which affected areas such as Rosebank, Paulshof, Midrand, Braamfontein and Marlboro.
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He said cars were damaged, houses were flooded and in one incident, a Soweto woman was taken to the nearest health facility after she slipped into a drain.
Southern Sun Hotel was among those who suffered great damage when the roof of the hotel restaurant collapsed. According to the hotel's head of marketing, Candy Tothill, emergency services were quick on the scene to secure the area.
"No serious injuries were reported and all guests were evacuated and relocated to Southern Sun’s hotels nearby. The hotel is closed for an evaluation and repair and impacted. Reservations are being transferred to the group’s other hotels," said Tothill.
While no injuries were reported, Moiloa said they could not let this incident die down without inspection through all Southern Sun Hotels in the country
"We always do audits and we do them regularly. This (inspection) is not something out of the ordinary. However, in this particular case it was triggered by the incident. That's why we are here. We plan on inspecting all the Southern Sun Hotels in the country," said Tothill.
"Because we are looking for a structural collapse, we will also get a report from the employer of their own investigations as well as a report from a structural engineer who will look at whether or not the building is safe. Actions thereafter will be dependent on our findings. If there are issues of compliance, those can be fixed within 14 days, some 30 days and some 60 days. If we find that there's still no compliance after the given time frame, the next step, which is referral prosecution, will be taken."
