Note to broadcaster: Please find linked soundbites in English and Afrikaans by Cllr Arista Annandale
The DA in Mahikeng Local Municipality will, through its Member of the North West Provincial Legislature, CJ Steyl, write to the MEC of Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs (COGHSTA), Oageng Molapisi, requesting an urgent investigation into the state of the fire station in Mahikeng Local Municipality.
This follows after residents who reported a fire on Saturday (see video and pictures here and here) were told that “there are no available fire trucks to assist,” as all trucks and firemen were dispatched elsewhere. After several calls and pleas, the fire station finally agreed to send at least one fire truck, but by this time, damages to the tune of R500 000 had already been caused to one of the properties.
Soon after the initial fire was seemingly extinguished, neighbouring properties caught fire. This was immediately reported, but the fire brigade only arrived several hours later.
The station currently has to get by with two fire trucks, two Land Cruiser Grass Units, and one Rapid Intervention Vehicle. Three fire trucks are in for repair work, and another is in for a service. There are only fourteen firefighters per shift, which makes it impossible to attend to more than one emergency at a time. This also runs the risk of deploying overworked firefighters, which could result in fatalities.
Cumbersome supply chain processes and delays in the repair of broken-down vehicles all contribute to the shortage of fire trucks. An Emergency Response Centre has been in the pipeline for years, but there is still no budget allocated for it. The emergency contact number is also out of order causing further delays in rapid action in cases of emergency.
A delayed response to an emergency is a dereliction of duty, and the DA will not stand by and wait for lives to be lost before this situation is addressed. We will request that a comprehensive report containing the funding of the fire station over the past five fiscal years, as well as a functionality report on all equipment and vehicles, be presented to council in order to prioritise and improve this vital service to communities.