The fire and rescue situation in Standerton is not exactly fired up.
Disconcerting rumours and troubling reports about the Standerton Fire and Rescue Services are doing the rounds, which was confirmed at a recent incident in Esdoorn Avenue in Kosmospark when vehicles were absent to attend to a fire.
Different stakeholders in town, part of a disaster management group, hold regular meetings to discuss contingency plans in the event of a disaster.
A WhatsApp-group send messages regularly to inform members about any developments and posts on Tuesday, 29 October indicated a JCP meeting at Tutuka Power Station.
The Chief Fire and Disaster Management Officer, Mr John Kock, said he was unable to attend due to prior commitments.
One such post alluded to the fact that the fire department vehicles are all grounded.
A further message that was withdrawn later on, said council was notified and advised about the necessity of declaring a state of disaster.
A commitment later on however, offered apologies for the incorrect statement and promised an update on the status of the fire department.
The Standerton Advertiser tried to schedule via WhatsApp a meeting with the communications manager of the Lekwa Municipality, Ms Thobeka Mtshiselwa, on Wednesday, 30 October for the same day or the following day.
The message indicated that the receiver took note of the content.
The following questions were subsequently sent on Wednesday afternoon via social media as well as e-mail:
• could you confirm whether emergency procedures are in place in the event of a disaster
• whether the fire brigade’s vehicles are grounded
• whether an Isuzu-bakkie is in for repairs
• whether council will discuss the situation as regards the fire brigade tomorrow.”
A previous arrangement was made that a 48-hours-period will be respected by both parties before publication, but no comment was received at the time of going to press
According to a reliable source, the vehicle problem began as far back as Sunday, 21 July when a petrol tanker caught fire on the Secunda Road and the fire department’s vehicle broke and had to be towed back to town.
A jurisdiction issue then existed since other stakeholders, apart from Lekwa and the Gert Sibande District Municipality, such as Sasol, Transnet, Standerton Police and Standerton Fire Brigade were on the scene.
The municipality then indicated, and it was published in our 2 August edition, that emergency procedures are in place.
According to the source above, one bakkie is in for repairs, but financial considerations are at play.
The newspaper also spoke to Mr Bronwen Pretorius, AfriForum’s district coordinator in the region, on several occasions for his take on the situation. The civil rights group helped to extinguish a fire at a house in Kosmospark on 2 October when the fire brigade was contacted, but did not arrive.
“It is frightening that we can not depend on the fire brigade, as one of the most important resources, in emergencies,” Mr Pretorius said on Friday, 1 November.
“I hope that attention will be given to the problem with the coming festive season in mind and AfriForum will keep on putting pressure where relevant.”
Lekwa’s council held a meeting on Thursday, 31 October and the caucus leader of the DA and councillor for Ward 10, Mr Rosier de Ville, confirmed that the fire brigade has no available vehicles.
“The report in the agenda was negative,” Mr De Ville said.
According to him, one of the items on the agenda was a proposal for the buying of two new vehicles, but council resolved preliminary to hire vehicles until such time national treasury approves funding for the town’s fire brigade.
