The Democratic Alliance (DA) has reported Dawid Kruiper municipality to COGHSTA following the ongoing lack of management and non-compliance of the municipal fire service to basic safety regulations.
Last week, the fire service’s water lorry was involved in an accident in Upington. The vehicle, driven by an official who is not in possession of a professional drivers permit, overturned the vehicle while taking a corner at high speed. The official, who was previously prohibited from driving the lorry due to past incidents of reckless driving, remains on duty. No disciplinary processes have yet been instituted against him.
The fire service is now dependent on a lorry intended for the provision of water to residents, placing added pressure on the town’s water supply.
In addition to this, the municipality has only one working fire truck, with the second truck awaiting repairs for over a year. The single operational fire truck must attend to fires in and around Upington, with a radius of up to 300 kilometers in the Mier area.
The fire service also has a lack of functional hoses, negating the use of fire hydrants. This was exposed when the former Oranje hotel burnt down in May. The fire services’ inability to connect the fire truck to the water hydrant, caused a lull in firefighting efforts. Only when the airport fire service came to assist, could the fire truck be connected to the water hydrant and be optimally utilized.
The municipality further doesn’t appear to have adequate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) or oxygen cylinders, as was observed during the recent hotel fire.
The DA is concerned that the municipality is turning a blind eye to the worsening situation at the fire service. This is despite conceding in its most recent Annual Report that it has limited resources resulting in the fact that compliance to SANS 10090 requirements in terms of community protection against fires, is not met. Also of concern is the municipality’s unwillingness to invest in the repair and maintenance of fire fighting equipment. This was seen in the meagre amount of R9 000 allocated to this line item in 2022/2023, while expenditure on employees came in R10 million over budget.
Given that the Municipal Manager has failed to respond to my letter, dated 15 May, in which I raise concerns and pose questions about the operations at the fire service, the DA has reported the matter to COGHSTA MEC, Bentely Vass, for an intervention. As the impact of climate change worsens and we increasingly see the devastation caused by fires across South Africa and the Northern Cape, government needs to spark now to be ready to respond to the looming fire season.