‘All fireworks are actually banned’

A PUBLIC meeting was held to discuss the amendment to the Hibiscus Coast Municipal (HCM) firework by-laws, to bring them into alignment with the Explosives Act.

The Explosives Act 2003 Section 81 (Act 15 of 2003) which was passed in 2003, supercedes any municipal by-laws, and the contents are not open for amendment.

The South African Police Service is the custodian of the Act and is therefore the one who must impose the fines.

However, HCM wants to now enforce the existing law and introduce fines which its law enforcement officers will be able to impose.

Officers will be advised in the interim and allowed to impose fines until the amendments take place in the by-laws.

Selwyn Naidoo, chief of the fire, rescue and disaster department explained that certain members of the public are calling for a total ban, but he said there is no need for this, as theoretically all fireworks are banned, except consumer fireworks as contained in the Act.

Retailers or wholesalers who fail to comply will be liable to fines of R1000 per day to a maximum of R60 000 in a magistrate’s court or R300 000 in a regional court.

Any person discharging consumer fireworks in a private or public area is subject to a fine of R2500.

Mr Naidoo was emphatic on the following points.

The only fireworks which are allowed to be discharged or stocked are ‘consumer fireworks’.

These are toy pistol cap gun caps, Christmas crackers and ‘party poppers’, and sparklers, for example those which contain minute quantities of pyrotechnic composition. In addition, no one under the age of 18 may handle or use consumer fireworks.

The only people who may stock or discharge any other form of fireworks are pyrotechnicians, who get a licence to do so.

Consumer fireworks may not be used within 1000 metres of an airport, hospital, old age home or within 500 metres of kennels, filling stations, SAPS, in any public building or thoroughfare and in any public place.

It now remains for the police and the HCM law enforcement officers to be educated on the requirements of the law.

In addition, to prevent the importation of fireworks to the coast from inland, before New Year there will be a daily road block at year-end to search vehicles for fireworks.,