An independent audit of the trucking company which transported the liquid gas, has cleared it of wrongdoing.
- The mayor of Ekurhuleni is expected to receive a comprehensive report on the Boksburg tanker explosion.
- The report will give a time stamp of every action taken by City officials.
- Three reports have been received, one of which clears the tanker company of wrongdoing.
The mayor of Ekurhuleni, Tania Campbell, is expected to receive a detailed report on the Boksburg tanker explosion on Monday.
The report by the Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department will detail the time of each action taken by authorities from their arrival on the scene on Christmas Eve morning.
The mayor received a report on Wednesday from the acting HOD of Disaster and Emergency Management, Mhlengi Makhubalo.
It is one of three reports on the incident.
Makhubalo’s report covers five days, from 24-30 December, when the scene was handed over to the roads and stormwater department and the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa).
It gives an overview of the events, including the total casualties, and which services were on the scene, from the blast until the memorial service.
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In conclusion, it noted that the City’s planning department needed to finalise assessments on five homes near the blast site, while the roads and stormwater department should finalise its review of the City’s infrastructure.
On 31 December, Infinite Fleet Transport, the company which owns the tanker, was cleared of wrongdoing by an independent auditing company, Transheq Consulting and Auditing.
According to the report, an independent review of the company’s “compliance to the legal and best practice requirements” was conducted in accordance with the Safety Quality Assessment for Sustainability (SQAS-Africa), which upholds the safety requirements in the National Road Traffic Act.
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The report found “no safety-critical non-compliances were identified, and compliance with legal and best practice requirements by Infinite Fleet Transport…were well followed and entrenched in the company”.
Richard Durrant, who is the director of Transheq, reviewed the following specific documentation:
- Vehicle Tracking and Trip Reports;
- Journey Plans/Route Risk Assessments;
- WhatsApp communication between the company, driver and client;
- SQAS-Africa audit, dated 22 and 23 November 2022; and
- Drivers licence, professional driving permit dangerous goods training certificate and medical certificate for the driver.
Meanwhile, a report sent to Ekurhuleni’s head of department, Sizwe Cele, by the MMC for Transport and Planning, Thamahane Mabekenyane, clarifies who owns the bridge and who is responsible for the height clearance signage.
It says that two bridges were damaged, and the bridge decks of both had to be demolished and reconstructed.
The abutments that support the bridge are “severely damaged”, and a structural engineer must decide if they can be repaired or need replacing.
Prasa owns the bridge under which the tanker was stuck.
The report reads:
It is believed that Prasa is responsible for the structural integrity of the bridge, and the [City] is responsible for the maintenance, and all other road and stormwater related aspects around the bridge, including road markings and signage.
It says that a photo of the bridge was taken when the area flooded on 10 December, showing a height warning on the bridge, and although the sign was not in good condition, it was legible.
“The roads department can, therefore, state with certainty that all indications show that the sign was attached to the bridge at the time of the incident.”
The sign detached from the bridge during the blast and lay in the rubble.
