Premier assures victim
2003-08-11 17:29
Pretoria - Gauteng premier Mbhazima Shilowa on Monday visited the woman paralysed when a marquee collapsed at a Women's Day function, telling her not to worry about her medical expenses.
"It may be that the provincial government has to pay the full cost. If that is the case, we will do so with no qualms," Shilowa told reporters in Pretoria after the visit.
The immediate concern was to provide Suraya Scott, 37, from the West Rand with the best possible medical treatment.
She suffered a spinal cord injury when the tent roof of a temporary stage succumbed to a strong gust of wind at the Women's Day function at the Union Buildings.
Others on the stage, including President Thabo Mbeki, were not hurt.
Mbeki was waiting to speak at the event, hosted by the Gauteng provincial government, when the roof caved in.
Muelmed Hospital spokesman Johann Dednam earlier said Scott was paralysed from the waist down. She was on stage to receive a Gauteng Woman Achiever's award.
Scott is married to Isaac and they care for two sons, Lee George, 7, and Cal Eaton, 8.
'Traumatic'
Her brother-in-law, Moses Scott, who appeared alongside Shilowa, said: "This is a traumatic time."
He asked for the family to be given an opportunity to come to terms with the accident.
"Suraya may be physically challenged today but her mental abilities are the same. She still has the same drive."
Shilowa said he had asked Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana, on behalf of the province, to institute an inquiry into the incident.
Labour experts were better equipped for the task.
"They need to be able to look at it in all respects. I would want to be able to get to the bottom of the incident itself."
Shilowa said provincial MECs had pulled together a number of interested parties to discuss the accident. The minutes of this meeting would be submitted to the labour investigating team.
Shilowa would not comment on the substance of reports that the ill-fated stage had not been properly inspected before being used.
'I never would have endagered the President'
"I don't know. If I had known, I never would have put my life in danger by being on the stage. I never would have put the life of the president in danger by being on the stage with him," Shilowa said.
"Overall, I would never have put the recipients of the award in danger. This was supposed to have been a day of celebration."
Shilowa said the full report and its recommendations would be made public.
"If there is a need for us to take action, we will be willing to take the action."
The company responsible for erecting the stage is CATV (Computer Audio Visuals Technology), based in Wendywood, Johannesburg.
Managing director Derrick Jannison was in a meeting on Monday afternoon and not immediately available, a company official said.
The labour department earlier said a prohibition notice had been issued against the firm.
Sports, Recreation, Arts and Culture MEC Gungubele Mondle said Scott ran her own waste removal company.
Her work to help others to start similar businesses contributed much to her nomination for the achievers award.
Shilowa added: "She has been able to pull up herself by her own bootstraps... moving from being a clerk to founding her own waste management company."
Moses Scott thanked the presidency and the provincial government for their support.
The Congress of South African Trade Unions also conveyed its best wishes to Scott on Monday.
"It is a tragedy that a finalist in the Women's Achiever Award should have been so cruelly injured just as she was to be honoured for her service to the community."
Referring to the collapse of another marquee at a May Day rally in Johannesburg, Cosatu added: "Clearly there is a need for far more rigorous checks of structures being used at public events."
- SAPA