Disaster management in the Free State rural areas is falling far short at the moment as there is often only one fire engine, if any at all, available to serve multiple local municipalities.
Over the last six months, about four houses have burnt down in the Phumelela Local Municipality (Vrede, Warden and Memel) and great damage was incurred because of the lack of adequate fire-fighting equipment.
The fact that these essential services are not available constitute negligence in the highest degree and someone must be held accountable before more fires cause further damage to property and the loss of lives.
Poor disaster management in the Phumelela Local Municipality exacerbated the tragedy which caused the death of Mr Henk Burgers at the weekend. Burgers was attacked in his home in Vrede and the perpetrators set the house on fire.
The fire brigade was reportedly contacted several times, but did not respond.
The FF Plus has, thus, sent official letters to both the Local Municipality and the provincial Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) requesting more information about the apparent lack of disaster management.
The information will be taken into account when weighing the possibility of lodging criminal complaints against those who are responsible for providing these essential services.
Read: Henk Burgers (62) dies after brutal home invasion, assault, home burnt out, Vrede
Read the original article in Afrikaans by Jan van Niekerk on FF Plus
