The metro held around 600 sports and recreational events last year, and according to the DA over 165 of the events were not compliant with the Safety at Sports and Recreational Events Act.
The South African national government passed this act into law in 2010, and its aim was to implement safety at sports and recreational events.
“As Ekurhuleni grows and hosts more sporting and recreational events, the public’s safety is of critical importance.
“A message the DA has been highlighting,” said DA councillor in the metro and member of the community safety oversight committee, Jaco Terblanche.
The DA was not the only organisation to express their dissatisfaction with the non-compliance of the Act by the metro, amongst them was the internal audit committee who also highlighted the issue to the department in the last internal audit report to the municipality.
The DA also said that non-compliance with the Act could lead to SAPS and emergency services staff shortages at events and mentioned that being ill-prepared should an emergency arise could put innocent lives at risk.
“As the DA we have been driving the enforcement of this Act through the community safety oversight committee and in council in an effort to ensure the safety of the public,” Terblanche said.
According to reports the metro has heeded the DA’s call for greater safety and has since been enforcing this Act.
“We will continue to monitor its implementation throughout Ekurhuleni, as we strongly believe that the safety of people cannot be ignored,” said Terblanche.
The GCN contacted the metro for comment to no avail.
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