The Department of Labour’s (DoL’s) inquiry into the collapse of the Grayston drive pedestrian bridge, on Gauteng’s M1 highway – which resulted in the death of two people and the injury of a further 19 – has been postponed, possibly to July 2018. The presiding inspector, Lennie Samuel, said that he would make a decision on this matter within the next two weeks.

This is the fifth postponement of the proceedings.

Engineering News has learned that Samuel will consider new submissions made by the legal team representing the construction company responsible for the bridge, Murray & Roberts (M&R).

The inquiry was to have resumed at the end of this month and continued for 21 days to hear further evidence.“These dates [were] set aside by the department seven months ago. However, no concrete reason for the postponement has been given,” Johannesburg Development Agency (JDA) representative and ENSafrica mine and occupational health and safety director Willem le Roux said.

The JDA commissioned the construction of the bridge. JDA senior development manager Siyabonga Genu expressed concern over the delays resulting from the various postponements and stressed the importance of finalising the matter as soon as possible.

Genu pointed out that the inquiry dates were cancelled by the DoL on March 10, owing to alleged “technical challenges”. The JDA and the City of Johannesburg are awaiting a full explanation from the DoL for the postponement.

Le Roux added that, to date, the only progress made with the inquiry were testimonies given by experts from representatives for M&R and scaffolding company Formscaff.

This took place during July and August last year.

“They all agree that the bridge collapsed as a result of structural weaknesses, which led to the wind blowing it over,” he pointed out.

The hearing of further expert testimony on behalf of M&R and Formscaff, along with other testimonies, may take another three months, said Le Roux. “The objective of such an inquiry is to determine the cause or causes and the underlying causes of an accident and to make recommendations for remedial measures to prevent a recurrence of such or similar accidents. It is therefore of the outmost importance that the inquiry be finalised as soon as possible,” said Le Roux.

The bridge collapsed 17 months ago, with the inquiry initially expected to be completed in the six months that followed.