Concerns expressed over the state of readiness by DEMS

The Department of Transport Planning assessed the City of Ekurhuleni (CoE) emergency response capacity and readiness following the catastrophic City of Johannesburg CBD fire, where over 70 people died.

DA spokesperson for community safety and Ward 16 Clr Jaco Terblanche spoke to Kempton Express.

He said the ordinary council meeting on August 31, a report from the department revealed that only 31 of the city’s 135 fire engines are operational.

ALSO READ: DEMS gives locals fire safety tips

“This means that 77% of the city’s fire engine fleet is out of service,” he said.

He raised concerns that the city only had 44% of its legally required fire stations to service residents in the event of an emergency.

“According to the South African National Standard (SANS 10090) community protection against the fire code of practise, Ekurhuleni is legally required to have 65 fire stations to keep its over four million residents safe. However, the city has only 29 operational fire stations,” said Terblanche.

He added this situation has not changed as contractors abandoned construction on fire station projects such as the Katlehong and Klopperpark, citing a lack of payment from the municipality.

ALSO READ: DEMS releases winter safety tips

“They recently opened the Albertina Sisulu Corridor Fire Station in Kempton Park with much fanfare; however, it does not have the human capital to fulfil its mandate,” he said.

The DA in 2021 also raised the fire department had over 75 funded unfilled vacancies for firefighters.

“Almost two years later, these vacancies remain mostly unfilled and many of the city’s fire stations, like the Alberton Sisulu Corridor Fire Station, operate on skeleton staff, with no full-time firefighters and staff deployed on overtime,” he said.

According to the media liaison officer for the CoE Disaster and Emergency Management Services (DEMS), William Ntladi, their department gets its vehicles from the city’s fleet management department.

“We are waiting for the approval of new maintenance and repair contracts for vehicles to go in for repairs. The new contract is in an advanced stage and will have a huge impact,” he said.

ALSO READ: DEMS warns residents after heavy rains were seen in Ekurhuleni

He added that fleet management contacted the service providers to speed up the process of bringing vehicles back from repairs to their respective operational standards on time.

Ntladi said some emergency vehicles were for a long period out of service because of insurance claims after road accident damages.

“Depending on faults with the vehicle, downtime can be longer because of the specialised nature of the equipment.”

He added they can only order the required material and spares once they verify the fault through stripping it and inspection.

Speaking on a lack of fire engines issue, he said the CoE endeavours to have at least one fire engine per station.

“The city has 30 fully functional fire stations.”

He added following the DEMS operational plan, the emergency services in Ekurhuleni are run from three regions.

“The three regions are further divided into districts, and each district has an average of three fire stations. In case of responses, the size of the incidents dictates the number of fire engines required.

ALSO READ: DEMS on high alert during thunderstorms in the city

“An emergency can either be district, regional or have a metro turnout to the fire or disaster incidents,” he said.

“Lack of resources brings serious implications to societal needs, hence alternative remedial strategies are in place to impute sustained services delivery.”

Ntladi said the DEMS operational plan is such that district stations respond together to different scenarios depending on the size of the fire.

“A memorandum of agreement guides inter-municipal responses among Gauteng municipalities.”

He added in terms of projects, the city engaged with stakeholders involved to follow necessary procedures and processes in resolving matters amicably.

“The filling of vacancies depends on various factors within the CoE and is not dealt with by the DEMS department in isolation,” he said.