CAPE TOWN - Families of Rheinmetall Denel Munition (RDM) explosion victims have demanded that the Department of Labour immediately suspend all explosive activity at the plant.
The Macassar community, supported by labour federation Cosatu, are expected to picket in front of RDM in Somerset West, supporting the demand to have associated licenses suspended.
This comes after expert witness testimony given at the section 32 inquiry last week revealed that the “design of the building did not meet industry standards for explosive manufacturing, mixing and/or blending” at the time when the explosion occurred on September 3, 2018.
The explosion claimed the lives of eight employees, leaving several others injured.
In the letter of demand, commissioned by Sam & Nicholas Attorneys, the families of the victims said: “On Friday, October 22 an expert witness commissioned by the Department of Employment and Labour testified at the formal inquiry into the Denel explosion of September 2018 that the design of the building did not meet industry standards for explosive manufacturing, mixing and/or blending. In addition the distance of the mixers/blenders are not adequate to stop and explosion from traverses or concrete walls. The concrete walls are also too thin to shield employees from fragments should an explosion occur again.
“We demand the Department of Employment and Labour to suspend the Explosive Licenses issued for Somerset West and review all Explosive Licenses issued to RDM by civil engineers with extensive experience designing and inspecting buildings for explosive manufacturing, mixing and/or blending.
“Failing which we will report the department to the Human Rights Commission or the Public Protector to determine maladministration and misconduct in awarding explosive licenses to RDM.”
The Labour department had appointed civil engineer Stephan Lapage to file a report which exposed “poor features of the traverses surrounding the (N16) facility”.
Lapage noted: “The walls did not offer any resistance to the effect of the explosion and the collapse of the wall allowed the blast to spread to the building space. At the same time, the blast carried lethal fragments as a consequence the building collapsed and fatalities occurred…
“The first and foremost lesson learned from the incident is that the mere presence of a concrete wall does not automatically translate into good protection. In fact, in the case of N16, the presence of two concrete walls gave a complete false sense of security,” Lapage noted in his report.
Cosatu provincial secretary, Malvern de Bruyn, in a statement said: “We are of the view that the explosion occurred due to non-compliance and negligence on the part of RDM).”
The Labour department did not responded to enquiries by deadline on Thursday.
In a statement last week, the department said the inquiry “paints a picture of structural shortcomings, defective designs and unnecessary overtime”.
The next inquiry sitting is yet to be announced.
Cape Times