by Kolapo Olapoju

South African President, Jacob Zuma has stated his government’s determination to do everything within its power to assist the families of 67 South Africans, who were killed in last week’s collapse of a building in T.B Joshua’s Synagogue church of all nations (SCOAN).

A multi-storey hotel building collapsed on Friday, 12 September, and on Tuesday, 16 September, Zuma announced to South Africans that 67 of its citizens had lost their lives.

Zuma said he had appointed a ministerial task force to take action on the incident. He said, “They will support families and do whatever is necessary to manage the impact of this tragedy. Rescue missions are still continuing after which we will know for sure how many citizens we have lost.”

On Thursday, 18 September, Nigerian authorities said 80 corpses have so far been removed from the debris of the collapsed building.

Meanwhile, South Africa’s International Relations Minister, Maite Nkoana-Mashabane said on Wednesday, 17 September, that Lagos was cooperating with them and relations between the two governments were very cordial and good.

She, however added that “working together with the Synagogue people has not been easy.”