Four people have died after a wall of a shop collapsed in Ngcobo in the Eastern Cape. A further 13 is reported to have been rushed to All Saints hospital where they are being treated for various injuries.
Health spokesperson, Mkhululi Ndamase says emergency medical personnel and other rescue workers are still busy with search and rescue.
This is the second building to collapse this week following the first one that happened in George on Monday.
Western Cape Health Minister of Health, Nomafrench Mbombo, says additional forensic teams have been brought in to help in the identification of victims of this week's George collapsed building disaster.
She was speaking during a visit to the George Provincial Hospital and the Mediclinic.
Mbombo was accompanied by National Health Minister, Joe Paahla.
They visited the survivors of the tragedy who were still in hospital, as well as a visit to the accident site and the family of those who are still missing.
Paahla and Mbombo both heaped praised on the George Provincial Hospital and the Mediclinic, for their part in working together to help save the lives of the patients brought in from Mondays deadly building collapse.
The death toll stands at 12, with 41 people unaccounted for.
Calling the incident a national disaster, Paahla said it was heartwarming that the private facility opened its doors to receive the patients that needed specialised treatment, without any questions.
"The hospital rose to the occasion when they were contacted by George Hospital to say 'we need help because we are overwhelmed'. And from the report we got, we got they really did everything, stopped operations. And we thank the management, also all the staff. It's quite heartwarming to know that even private doctors who were already busy with operations or was just about to start, agreed to postpone those operations," says Phaahla.
Both also thanked the emergency service workers who worked day and night since the incident.
Mbombo said that EMS teams from other districts would now return to their respective towns.
With the death toll likely to rise even further, she said measures were in place so that the local mortuaries, would not be overburdened.
