It has come to the Addie’s attention that the fire hose installed against a wall is leaking due to the misuse by these car guards.
William Ntali, spokesman for the Ekurhuleni Emergency Services (EMS), says a fire hose-reel installed against a wall is fire fighting equipment.
He states clearly that nobody is allowed to use the fire hose or any EMS equipment other than during emergencies.
Ntali says these fire hoses are placed on the outside of buildings in parking areas to be used during emergencies prior to the arrival of EMS.
The metro’s rules on the use of these hoses does not state anything concerning any other usage.
He believes this challenge is more of an educational issue to transform the society in understanding the usage of these resources and that the car guards need to understand the negative impact of misuse of the equipment.
The car guards feel differently about the situation, saying they have to use the water to be able to do their jobs – to wash cars.
Tebogo Phooko from KwaThema says he travels to Springs every day to wash cars to earn money.
Mandla Sithole says they wash cars to provide for their families.
They used water from the same hose until EMS members came to seal it off in January 2013.
Sithole says they then started using water from a meter on the pavement in the parking area, but this was also closed off.
It is believed the metro sealed it because of the illegal fitting.
He says the metro worker allegedly explained to them they had to seal if because nobody can take responsibility for the account.
This step forced the car guards to break the seal of the fire hose-reel to get water for the washing of the cars.
Zef Sukazi, president of the Palm Springs Car Guards Association, says he is willing to give his personal details to the metro as account holder.
He will equally divide the amount received on the account between them as long as they have access to water to do their jobs.
These people feel they are making an honest living by washing the cars, but need water to do so.
