Premier Ntuli demands accountability for Verulam temple collapse

The Verulam temple collapse site.

KwaZulu-Natal Premier Thami Ntuli says those found to be responsible for the collapse of the temple in Verulam north of Durban must be held accountable.

The River Range Temple collapsed on Friday killing at least five people and injuring many others.

Authorities are unable to confirm how many people are trapped by the collapsed building.

Visiting the scene earlier on Sunday, Ntuli said they are hopeful that the investigation that is currently under way will determine circumstances surrounding the incident.

“We are hoping that we will know the truth as to whether there were really reasons for this to happen or whether there was carelessness during the construction. If there are engineers that were involved, we will also have to know whether those engineers were fit for purpose. It is important that we prevent more occurrences in the province before we experience more.”

KZN COGTA MEC Rev. Thulasizwe Buthelezi joined Public Works Minister Dean MacPherson, MEC Martin Meyer and eThekwini Mayor Cllr Cyril Xaba at the site of the Verulam building collapse. Emergency teams were praised for their tireless work in heavy rain.Four lives have been lost. pic.twitter.com/FH4GSy0XCO

— KZNCOGTA (@kzncogta) December 13, 2025

Ntuli urged multi-storey building owners to ensure that their properties are certified by professional engineers, stressing that non-compliance puts lives at risk.

He adds that there have been engagements around the construction of buildings to avoid such tragedies.

“The platforms of working together, different spheres of government started long time ago including NGOs and we have already had some engagements in terms of the material that needs to be used, material that is friendly to the changing climate. But this one, we are of the view that it was not caused by climate change, but it was just a disaster which might have been caused by some technicalities in terms of what was happening during the building.”

The Mayor of eThekwini Municipality, Councillor Cyril Xaba, today revisited the site of the collapsed building in Verulam to lend support to ongoing rescue and recovery operations.

Mayor Xaba commended the rescue teams for their exceptional efforts, which have thus far led to… pic.twitter.com/6f3nZ801SU

— eThekwini Municipality (@eThekwiniM) December 13, 2025