President Cyril Ramaphosa will on Thursday visit the site of a collapse of a partially built residential building, in George in the Western Cape.

Rescue and recovery efforts are ongoing into the second week after the collapse, with the death toll standing at 33 as at 18:00 on Wednesday.

According to the latest statistics released by George municipality, of the estimated 81 workers who were on site at the time of the incident on May 6, 61 people have been rescued or recovered, while 20 are still unaccounted for.

Since the fatal incident, government and its disaster management agencies at all levels have mobilised personnel and resources towards the rescue efforts and have provided support to the survivors and families of the deceased. 

Spokesperson to the President Vincent Magwenya said Ramaphosa remained deeply attentive to the rescue and recovery efforts and had expressed his condolences to the family and friends of the deceased workers.

Magwenya noted that ahead of Ramaphosa’s visit, Ministers and Deputy Ministers in the departments of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Employment and Labour, Health, Police, International Relations and Cooperation, and Public Works and Infrastructure have visited the site and have been working collaboratively with the Disaster Joint Operations Centre, with the Western Cape provincial government and the Garden Route district municipality.