Lack of fire station infrastructure a threat to public safety

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A direct threat to public safety.

That is the only way to describe the situation at Nelson Mandela Bay’s fire stations where multiple fire engines are seemingly broken, unsafe or barely functional.

The Herald reported this week that an R11m fire engine — bought with public funds during the 2010 Fifa World Cup and the only vehicle capable of tackling high-rise flames — has apparently stood idle for years.

An insider told The Herald the vehicle had a faulty ladder so it could not be used to douse fires in tall buildings.

He said there was also a water tanker with capacity to fight wildfires, which had been stationary due to faulty brakes.

The situation becomes indefensible when viewed against the backdrop of unspent allocations.

The metro’s safety and security directorate was flagged earlier this year for failing to spend all the funds allocated to the fire department, including R1.1m allocated for refurbishments at the Govan Mbeki, KwaNobuhle and Miramar fire stations.

The metro had also failed to spend the following funds for equipment including but not limited to:

R15m for the purchase of hydraulic platforms for fires and emergencies;
R10m for buying fire vehicle rescue pumps; and
R4m for a fire engine.

And this is the reality of these unspent funds — every delayed purchase, every grounded vehicle, every missing piece of protective equipment brings the Bay closer to a tragedy that could have been prevented.

The metro has indicated that procurement processes are under way and that new vehicles are being prioritised.

Municipal spokesperson Sithembiso Soyaya said the metro wished to assure residents that fire and emergency services remained operational and would continue to respond to incidents across the Bay.

That is welcome — but it is not enough.

We need the municipality to spend its allocated budget and repair and replace critical firefighting equipment.

Failure to do so is to put not only the citizens in this metro at risk, but also the firefighters who are meant to rescue them.