Question NW3903 to the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs
11 December 2023 - NW3903
Van Zyl, Ms A M to ask the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs
Whether, with reference to her reply to question 2204 on 19 June 2023 that the Joe Gqabi District Municipality has no firefighting vehicles for structural, mountainous, veld and/or hazmat fires, her department has plans in place to assist the municipality with firefighting vehicles, if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the plans and timeframes of the envisioned assistance to the Joe Gqabi District Municipality?
Reply:
The NDMC Fire Services Directorate, in its attempt to reposition fire services in the country is working closely with the Eastern Cape Provincial Disaster Management Centre in improving capacity within the province to provide a sustainable Fire Services within the Eastern Cape Province, which includes the Joe Gqabi District Municipality. In May 2023 a functionality assessment was performed by the Eastern Cape Provincial Disaster Management Centre to assess the municipality’s capacity, funding sources, human and physical resources to support a fire service. The NDMC Fire Services Directorate further supported the Eastern Cape during the 2023/204 FY by performing capacity assessments within five (5) identified municipalities for the implementation of the National Fire Safety & Prevention Strategy, aimed at lowering prevention of loss of life, with a particular focus on preventing multi-fatality causalities in buildings to which the public have access.
There are plans in place to assist the municipality, to improve its capacity to perform the firefighting function. The NDMC Fire Services Directorate is in the process of drafting a consolidated Status Report of Fire Services in the country which forms part of the Review of the Disaster Management System in the country, and a Fire Services Working Group have already been established to perform this task. The aim of the Status Report is to identify service delivery gaps, and to monetarily quantify the areas where support is needed, from which a business case will be forwarded to the Minister, and upon approval be submitted to National Treasury before the end of March 2024.
End.