Residents receive safe stoves

Three thousand safe and approved paraffin stoves were distributed at the Vusimuzi Informal Settlement as part of a multi-departmental ‘Safer Stoves Campaign’.

The campaign consists of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, the National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications (NRCS), the National Consumer Commission (NCC) and the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality (EMM).

The paraffin stoves were distributed in December.

The partnership follows a winter campaign that was kick-started in June 2015 by the NRCS and the NCC, aimed at educating consumers about the importance of using approved appliances, such as paraffin stoves and heaters, to prevent shack fires which often result in loss of lives and property.

Speaking at the campaign, the Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr Rob Davies, said the import and sale of deadly, non-compliant paraffin stoves is prohibited in South African.

“The reason we are against the use of illegal stoves is that in the event of it being tipped over, the flame continues burning. The paraffin spills out and ignites, causing devastating fires in the process.

“When a compliant stove is tipped over, the flame goes out. This then averts a catastrophe,” said Min Davies.

According to Min Davies, it was found that nine out of 10 households use illegal, or non-compliant stoves, since they are cheaper than the stoves approved by the NRCS.

“Every year, 200 000 people are affected by fires caused by unsafe paraffin stoves. This causes hardship for communities, on government and on municipalities. We are saying, through this campaign, that this has to stop.

“We went through the docks in Durban and we discovered these stoves were shipped-in via cargo. We confiscated and destroyed them, but the perpetrators involved in this trade have resorted to importing these stoves in bits and pieces and setting up illegal factories to assemble and distribute them locally,” said Min Davies.

The campaign found that 3 000 households in Tembisa were found using stoves that were unsafe. These were confiscated and replaced with safe stoves.

“We also had SAPS and NRCS-driven operations that found four informal and two formal shops selling illegal stoves.

“The operation confiscated 44 illegal stoves and six arrests were made. Those people are going to be prosecuted in court. Today, our campaign reached a new level in that we have brought the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs on board,” said Min Davies.

Min Davies said 700 people in the community were trained to promote the importance of safe stoves and the importance of getting rid of unsafe stoves.