City council launches winter safety campaign

Responding to the number of fire-related incidents and fatalities, which generally spiked during winter, the city council embarked on an educational campaign to drive poor communities away from risky behaviour during cold weather.

“We are targeting vulnerable areas, especially informal settlements where most of the dwellings are shacks… We are engaging our people, we are informing our people,” said MMC for Public Safety Sello Lemao.

Lemao launched the ongoing campaign, which will be rolled out in communities across Joburg, in Kya Sand informal settlement.

In January this year, 37 shacks were destroyed in a fire at the Kya Sand informal settlement.

“The main thing is not to give them [residents] give-aways but it’s… to educate them, so that they know what are the safer materials or source of energy and lighting so that they can be safe,” he said.

“Our job is simple, it’s to save lives and property.”

City council and emergency service officials, and police engaged with members of the Kya Sand informal settlement, distributing safety candles and discussing best practices during cold weather.

Lemao demonstrated that the safety candle, which is secured in a sand-filled jar, would contain the flame even it fell over.

The safety campaign would also be introduced in old age homes, which were also identified as vulnerable communities.

The city council has also introduced a Jozi safety kit to ensure that the poorer communities had access to safe, affordable winter supplies.

The kit consists of a 25 litre bucket, a smoke detector, a solar light and a burn kit.

However, these items could also be bought individually at an affordable price.

Lemao said the city council had a budget to provide vulnerable communities with the kit, but would not be able to accommodate every household, and had therefore approached businesses to partner with the council and sell the items to the public at a reduced cost.

“We want to make these safety materials as accessible as possible and we know that as a city alone we cannot do that… we engage with shopkeepers and business owner to make sure they make them as cheap as possible,” he said.

However, he said, the priority was to ensure that the public was conscious of safety measures rather than to promote the safety materials.