Boksburg explosion: A year later, unanswered questions linger

More questions than answers remain a year after a gas tanker exploded in Boksburg, killing 41 people and injuring as many.

While the cause of the incident is not in dispute, the circumstances that surround it continues to mire the tragedy in a measure of controversy.

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Investigative outcomes to the incident seem non-existent and somewhat opaque. ISS or Innovative Staffing Solutions, the company in whose employ the driver of the truck remains, said investigations by forensic investigator Stan Bezuidenhout and attorney William Booth that it had appointed at the time, had been concluded.

ISS told The Citizen that the reports were complete and had been handed to relevant authorities. It also noted that the reports exonerated both ISS and the driver from any wrongdoing.

However, Bezuidenhout said his investigation was not finalised, and he had only submitted a preliminary evidence preservation report on 29 December last year. Almost a year ago.

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“While it is true that I submitted a report (a preliminary evidence preservation report), my investigation was not done. All evidence had not yet been collected, gathered, or considered, and a final report was not forthcoming.”

He said he would only have compiled a final report, concluding the matter, “after the state had completed its investigation and all evidence was considered and integrated”.

In correspondence that The Citizen has seen, attorneys acting on behalf of ISS cancelled Bezuidenhout and Booth’s mandates in July this year instead.

The correspondence reads that ISS decided to terminate the matter. “Your mandate in respect of this matter has been terminated, and you are not required to take any further steps in relation thereto.

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“Considering the instruction from (client), we request that you refrain from sending e-mails to Arnoux and to any of the staff employed by the ISS group,” it said.

In its correspondence ISS also reminded Booth and Bezuidenhout to remain mum about the incident. “(Client) has also instructed us to place on record that you may not discuss this matter with any news agency, television production or any other form of media outlet, should you be approached to do so.”

ISS in turn denied attempts to gag the pair of investigators and instead explained that client privilege was at play, ergo the note.

The municipal report commissioned by former mayor Tania Campbell was not finalised, nor brought before council either, said the Democratic Alliance’s Simon Lapping.

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The party led a coalition government that was ousted before anything could be concluded. Jongisizwe Dhlabathi, council’s chief whip and ANC caucus leader in the current Economic Freedom Fighters-led coalition in the city, confirmed the outcome of the municipal inquiry was outstanding.

Queries directed at the South African Police Service and its criminal investigation saw The Citizen referred from pillar to post, without any answers.

“There just seems to be a deathly silence all round,” said Lapping. “Everyone is pointing fingers, but only away from themselves, forgetting about the lives that have been lost, the burdens that loved ones continue to carry, and the scars of the injured,” he added.

“When I attended a memorial service at Tambo Memorial Hospital last month, evidence of the blast was still visible everywhere.

“There were still houses that have not been repaired and Prasa contractors had only started now, a year later, with clearing away the debris. It’s a shame.”

Lapping said that beyond the hospital’s effort to commemorate the tragedy, little else has been done.

“There has been no talk of a memorial for the other victims, no revert from the premier or the current mayor. It’s as if the whole incident is just easier if forgotten and swept under the carpet.”

He said beyond the optics in the first few days after the incident, little else has transpired. “The investigation must be completed, too, and I plan to challenge council on this,” Lapping added.