Fines for factory fire deaths. The star. 'The labour Department also had a share to blame for the tragic loss of 11 lives in a factory fire in Lenasia two years ago, a magistrate has said. Lenasia Regional Court Magistrate Caren Nienaber yesterday imposed fines on the owner of ESS Chemicals, Suleman lachporia (45), and his manager, Nezahuddin Ahmod (32). She added that, had labour department inspectors done their duty and inspected the premises of ESS chemicals, the 11 might still be alive. They were burnt to alive in the factory on November 17 2000. In terms of a plea bargain agreement - new to South Africa - the two men were fined by the court. Lachporia was fined R100 00 or fives year's imprisonment plus five years' house arrest, except for work and religious purposes. He is also paying R10 000 into the estate of the dead workers. Ahmod was fined R50 000 (or two years' imprisonment) and R40 000 (or 18 months), which is suspended for five years.

Lenasia factory fire case postponed. 20 August 2002. The trial of Suleman "Solly" Lachporia, owner of the ESS Chemicals factory and his manager has been postponed to November in the Lenasia Regional Court. The two face a main charge of culpable homicide relating to the death of 11 employees including the supervisor who were burnt to death in November 2000, after a fire swept through the factory in which they were locked in. They also face an alternative charge under the Occupational Health And Safety Act. Relatives of the factory workers waited patiently for hours in court hoping the trial of Lachporia and his manager Nezahuddin Ahmod, would commence. The trial had been set down for three days but the interpreter and Ahmod spoke different dialects and there was a communication problem. In any event the defence had prepared to ask for a postponement, having only received the charge sheet on August 2, and because the defence will be handled by Senior Counsel Mike Hellens who had other duties today. Relatives of the victims, disappointed at the postponement, distributed pamphlets, which stated: "Earning an honest wage, a pittance of R175 for two full weeks of labour, some being the sole breadwinners, the victims of this disaster managed to provide the bare basics for our families. "Since the event, 11 more families have no source of income and survived only on goodwill." The relatives said they had been waiting for many months for justice to be done.

For the state, Advocate Riaan Kock of the office of the local director of Public Prosecutions was at court, apparently ready to proceed with the trial, and oppose a defence postponement request. However, because of the communication problem the case was postponed. The charge sheet alleges that the accused failed to provide or maintain a safe working environment for the factory employees. It also states that on the premises, the inherently unsafe production process of manufacturing floor polish was carried out with inflammable liquid close to open flames. Also, it alleges that there was an excess amount of liquid petroleum gas, namely six cylinders being 48 kilograms each, situated near the open flames and the extra doors were locked at night. Magistrate Karen Nienaber postponed the matter for trial and extended bail of R30 000 for Latchporia and R15 000 for Ahmod. The Magistrate ordered that the defence and the state would have until September 19 to clear up problems and supply further particulars if requested. The accused were also asked to make a brief appearance in court to ensure that everything was on track for the trial. There is a possibility that the state may call as many as 60 witnesses.

'Department to blame for fire'. M & G of 2 February 2001 by Glenda Daniels.

An inexperienced safety inspector had been sent to investigate a complaint against Esschem factory in Lenasia ó a month before it burnt down. The Lenasia factory fire that killed 11 people two months ago could have been prevented. National Department of Labour inspectors say an inexperienced and unqualified occupational and health safety inspector was sent to Lenasia a month before the blaze with an out-of-date map book and could not find the factory. He reported that his mission had not been accomplished, but his superiors failed to follow it up. Today the killer-house factory, Esschem, in Anchorville, Lenasia, stands blackened, razed to the ground and bare of machinery or workers. Safety inspectors say if the department had not insisted on integrating specialised functions into one inspectorate, the fire could have been prevented. They are putting the blame for the deaths squarely on what they call the "chaotic and illogical" integration process, which entails one person fulfilling many functions leading, they say, to inexperienced staff investigating workplace safety issues, with disastrous consequences, such as the Lenasia fire. And while infighting about the integration process continues, a backlog of more than 700 accidents have not been investigated. Last year 96 inspectors filed complaints and grievances to the department because they felt worker health and safety would be compromised through the integration exercise, wherein inspectors are expected to deal with a range of issues from Unemployment Insurance Fund matters to engineering checks. After they found their complaints were not being addressed, 31 resigned.

Some have now launched constructive dismissal claims with the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration. In the case of the Esschem factory, Sam Ntwampe, a learner inspector who is young, inexperienced and not fully qualified, was sent to Lenasia in October last year to investigate an official complaint drawn up in August by three women, known only as Sylvia, Catherine and Lucia. "He went out to Lenasia with an old map book and could not find the factory, as the address did not appear in the map book," said an inspector, who asked not to be named. "In addition, he was driving a hired car, which had to be back at a certain time. He got back to the Department of Labour and reported that he had not found the factory. "Had his superior then followed up with a more experienced inspector, they would have found workers locked up with gas cylinders for 16 hours at a time, a fire extinguisher that did not work and no windows or fans for fresh air and no alarm bell. These workers had no recourse to fire precautionary measures. "Ntwampe was asked to appear before a disciplinary hearing but after much protest from his colleagues that he should not take the blame for departmental ineptitude, two of his team leaders have been suspended instead. Another inspector has been charged with misconduct for "talking to the media" about the incident. Department of Labour representative Faiza Salle claims there is "at most, a tenuous link" between the fire and the integration process, "because although the integration process has not been easy, it was not the cause of the fire. The cause of the fire is due to negligence on the part of the employer, who failed to provide for the health and safety of his employees. "She said the official sent out to investigate the complaint had gone through the learner inspector scheme and was familiar with the operations of the inspectorate. The issue of expecting one inspector to perform a range of specialized functions goes back to 1999.A member of the bargaining council for the National Education Health and Allied Workers' Union, Peter Kgatle, an inspector who recently resigned, says: "The department wants to reduce this to a white male transformation issue, but it's not the case.

The blacks that remain are just waiting to leave. 'We do not believe that counting toilets, which is what they are doing, is beneficial to community. Structured training needs to happen but this is not taking place. Since the integration process everything has collapsed. In my letter of resignation I mentioned that the Lenasia fire could have been prevented. "Natalie Skeepers, another inspector who resigned, said: "This is not an issue about white males resisting transformation. I'm not white and I'm not a man. After the integration process the whole [occupational and health safety programme collapsed. There was no direction on projects and targeted industries. We were managing by crisis. Staff morale was low, people were resigning in droves. Vacancies were not filled. There was a problem of resources for instance, using hired cars. What happens in a fatality?" Job descriptions changed and we had to perform labour relations work and not what we were qualified to do. Specialist functions died. Safety is not valued, it's treated as second-hand. "A black male inspector who resigned last month said: "It became difficult to do accident investigations ó what we were trained for. Occupational and health safety was compromised. This had nothing to do with colour but is just a stupid decision on the part of the government. It's an imported policy from Australia ó integrating with no training."

'Two Lenasia fire victims made complaints' By Sheena Adams.

Two of the 11 victims who perished in the ESS Chemicals factory fire more than a week ago were among three workers who complained to the labour department in August about their hazardous working conditions, The Star has learnt. Lenasia police Inspector Shahid Abdool said three workers had submitted a written complaint to the police in August. The complaint was forwarded to the labour department but was never followed up, after the department's inspector failed to locate the factory. One of the three, Evaton resident Sylvia Dlamini, was fired after lodging the complaint. The other two, who continued to work at the factory, died in the fire. Abdool named one of them as Orange Farm resident Catherine Mazibuko, but could not provide the other name at the time of going to press on Monday night. Labour department spokesperson, Phenyo Nonqane, could not provide any of the names of workers who had laid the complaint. The fire and the department's failure to follow up the complaint against Ess Chemicals owner Suleman Lachporia, 43, led to a swoop by labour department inspectors on similar factories and companies in and around Lenasia on Monday .An Anchorville factory allegedly belonging to Lachporia's brother was visited. According to the inspectors, the factory, Crown Salt Works, flouted almost all of the country's labour regulations. A manager at the Crown Salt Works factory, Mohammed Ali, confirmed that the owner, who identified himself as I Ebrahim, was Lachporia's brother.

The team was led by the director-General of the department, advocate Rams Ramashia, and Congress of South African Trade Unions general secretary, Zwelinzima Vavi.Several other factories in the area shut down, apparently after hearing that the labour delegation was in Anchorville. Attempts to serve compliance notices on factories which were visited by the labour department last week and warned to step up their safety regulations were unsuccessful. Ramashia said the department had identified several areas around Johannesburg where "rolling inspections" would be carried out to force employers to comply with the labour and safety legislation. "High-risk areas have been identified where we think workers are vulnerable," Ramashia said. He said the fire at ESS Chemicals had helped the department to realise that when random employers were found to break labour laws, the cases were not necessarily "aberrations". "The reason why the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) is bankrupt is because employers do not bother to register with the fund. When workers lose their jobs, my department is obliged to pay them UIF even if they did not contribute to the fund. "A new amendment to the UIF legislation aims to make employers 100 percent accountable for the pay-outs so that the fund is sustainable," the director-general said.