Pretoria – Communities in the North West have been warned to be vigilant against fires as the winter season sets in.
The North West’s Acting MEC for Local Government and Human Settlements, Fenny Gaolaolwe, says communities, especially those staying in informal settlements, must be cautious at all times and not to leave lit candles and paraffin or gas stoves unattended during the winter season.
MEC Gaolaolwe’s warning comes as the world marks the World Fire Fighters Day.
“It is that time of the year when most of us will be using heaters to keep warm during cold winter days and … a lot of cases of shack and veld fires get reported to us through our fire stations in municipalities.
“Most of the time, municipalities are able to respond to such cases but we want to appeal to our people that such incidents can be prevented. In instances where municipalities are unable to respond because our insufficient capacity, help is often sourced from the next nearest fire station,” she said.
In order to deal with the shortage of fire fighters in most municipalities, the department is in the process of training fire fighter reserves through the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP).
The programme will be rolled out in the 2017/18 financial year. The department has allocated over R11 million for procurement of fire fighting vehicles for Greater Taung, Naledi, Mahikeng, Tswaing local municipalities.
An additional R748 000 will be shared equally among the four districts to train fire safety officers, with a special focus on municipalities that do not have professional safety officers and the necessary fire prevention and investigation resources such as cameras, recording devices and fire detectors.
MEC Gaolaolwe also mentioned that the department has established a provincial fire safety and prevention committee with the sole purpose of ensuring the enforcement of municipal by-laws in line with the applicable legislations.
“Our greatest challenge at the moment is the fact that municipalities do not budget for fire services such as maintenance of fire fighting vehicles, and they do not have human replacement policies and succession plans. However, we are always ready to assist municipalities with such issues,” she said. – SAnews.gov.za
