GEORGE NEWS - The Good Party in George objected to the approval of the 2025/2026 disaster management plan by majority vote at a February George council meeting, calling to first have the engineering report about last year's Neo Victoria building collapse tabled to council.

The disaster management plan is annually reviewed and approved by the council.

"Good argues that we cannot approve the new plan without addressing the biggest man-made tragedy to impact our municipality," reads a statement issued by the party after the meeting. 

It said that no outcomes or actions have been seen based on the findings in the structural engineering report that Western Cape Premier Alan Winde handed over to the police in January.

Good called on the mayor to obtain the report from the premier so that the findings can be reviewed and incorporated into the disaster management plan.

Responding to the statement, municipal communications manager Chantèl Edwards said although the building collapse was widely described as a disaster in the media, the municipality had not officially declared it a disaster. 

"In terms of disaster classification, an event must impact an entire community and exceed the municipality's response capacity to be formally recognised as a disaster. The incident was classified as a major casualty incident and managed accordingly."

She said the report was handed over to the South African Police Service (SAPS) for further investigation and therefore the matter is sub judice. "... we must await the outcome of the SAPS investigations. 

"The municipality respects the process and will continue to support the SAPS in concluding the investigation as quickly as possible and any future outcomes thereof."

Responding to a request for comment, DA East Region chairperson Region Venolea Fortuin said anyone who wishes to see a copy of the report should request it from the SAPS.

According to the foreword in the disaster management plan, George and its surrounding municipalities have been affected by "more extraordinary natural, situational and environmental extremities in the past 15 years than what most authorities might experience in a century". 

These include fires, devastating floods, bird flu scares, a ship sinking in a marine protected area, large-scale protest action and the longest drought in history, as well as the Covid-19 pandemic which had stretched resources to a maximum.

‘We bring you the latest Garden Route, Hessequa, Karoo news’