The South African Institution of Civil Engineering (SAICE) expresses its deepest condolences and heartfelt sympathies to the individuals and families impacted by the explosion that tragically occurred in parts of Lilian Ngoyi Street (formerly Bree Street), in Johannesburg, on Wednesday, 19 July 2023.<\/p>\n
In light of this unfortunate event, and while investigations are underway, CEO Sekadi Phayane-Shakhane <\/strong>said that SAICE stands ready to offer guidance and expertise through its network of voluntary civil engineering professionals as the nation comes together to prioritize safety, resilience, and the well-being of all citizens.<\/p>\n She also emphasized the importance of prioritising the rebuilding of critical infrastructure for this buoyant street in the City Centre. \u201cThis is necessary to restore a sense of safety and security for residents and citizens, while enabling business owners to resume their operations seamlessly.\u201d<\/p>\n SAICE\u2019s Friedrich Slabbert <\/strong>also emphasized the critical importance of asset management to ensure the safety and reliability of infrastructure.<\/p>\n \u201cAccurate mapping of all services in a Geographic Information System, including ownership and age of different entities’ infrastructure, plays a vital role in proactive risk mitigation and disaster preparedness. By involving all affected asset owners in the investigation process, the City can collaboratively develop swift action plans to restore essential services and prevent similar incidents in the future,\u201d Slabbert said.<\/p>\n Chairperson of the SAICE Structural Division, Siyabonga Dubazana<\/strong> also added that the impact of the explosion in the Johannesburg CBD on the nearby structures must be assessed by structural engineers. He added: \u201cSuch explosions may alter ground conditions thus negatively impacting the foundations and the structure. Some of these structures may already be compromised due to a lack of maintenance. The safety of occupants in these buildings is of utmost importance – \u00a0thus buildings must be inspected and declared safe for occupation.\u201d<\/p>\n Dubazana concurred with Slabbert stating that it is hoped that this incident will place priority on the importance of condition assessments and the maintenance of infrastructure.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n ENDS<\/strong><\/p>\n \n \n \n \n \n About SAICE<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n The South African Institution of Civil Engineering (SAICE) is a learned society and voluntary association that acts as a catalyst for innovation and good practice in the development of the civil engineering profession. SAICE has a membership base in excess of 16 000 civil engineering professionals, and is involved in the development of policies, standards, structures, and systems that impact infrastructure at local and international levels.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n \n Media Contact:<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n Stacey Turnbull | SWM Communications<\/p>\n stacey@swmcommunications.co.za<\/p>\n Call: 072 427 1680<\/p>\n \n Contact details: <\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n Nthabeleng Lentsoane<\/p>\n SAICE: Head of Marketing & PR<\/p>\n nthabeleng@saice.org.za<\/p>\n Call: (011) 805-5947<\/p>\n \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The South African Institution of Civil Engineering (SAICE) expresses its deepest condolences and heartfelt sympathies to the individuals and families impacted by the explosion that tragically occurred in parts of Lilian Ngoyi Street (formerly Bree Street), in Johannesburg, on Wednesday, 19 July 2023.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":17455,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[60,76],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17688","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-press-releases","category-saice"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swmcommunications.co.za\/press-office\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17688","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swmcommunications.co.za\/press-office\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swmcommunications.co.za\/press-office\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swmcommunications.co.za\/press-office\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swmcommunications.co.za\/press-office\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17688"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/swmcommunications.co.za\/press-office\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17688\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17689,"href":"https:\/\/swmcommunications.co.za\/press-office\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17688\/revisions\/17689"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swmcommunications.co.za\/press-office\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17455"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swmcommunications.co.za\/press-office\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17688"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swmcommunications.co.za\/press-office\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17688"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swmcommunications.co.za\/press-office\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17688"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}