Authorities have been tasked to investigate why emergency services did not respond timeously to a fire that razed a family home in northern KwaZulu-Natal — despite the house being “within walking distance” from the disaster management centre.
On Sunday‚ the Cele family in Nongoma lost all their belongings when their rented house burnt to the ground.
Community members alleged that firefighters‚ who were dressed in civilian clothes‚ took 30 minutes to respond to the fire.
Nongoma mayor Sthembiso Mathaba said the municipal manager‚ Bonga Ntanzi‚ has been tasked to conduct a full investigation into what has happened.
“We want to know why so that we can learn from this and prevent it from happening in the future‚” said Mathaba.
This followed a call by the Democratic Alliance for an investigation into the circumstances that led to the failure by the Disaster Management Centre to extinguish the fire. The DA questioned the number of personnel employed by Disaster Management and whether they were properly trained and equipped to carry out their duties.
Zwakele Mncwango‚ the DA’s provincial leader‚ said he has been in contact with the mayor and municipal manager.
“The municipal manager said the matter is being investigated and he will provide me with a preliminary report‚” said Mncwango.
“We want the municipal manager to investigate the state of readiness in this department to respond to emergencies. They need to explain what caused this lethargic response to the fire‚” he added.
A neighbour of the Cele’s‚ who has since taken in the family of four‚ said they have lost all their belongings.
“The mother was outside the house when the fire started. Samkelo‚ an 11-year-old child‚ was injured when he went into the house for his two-year-old baby brother who he thought was asleep in the house. Thankfully the baby was outside. People from the neighbourhood tried calling for help and even went to the fire station‚ but there was no one there.
“Neighbours carried buckets of water trying to put out the fire but it did not help. By the time the firefighters arrived everything had burnt down‚” said the woman‚ who did not want to be named.
Tardy firefighters probed as fire razes family home
Authorities have been tasked to investigate why emergency services did not respond timeously to a fire that razed a family home in northern KwaZulu-Natal — despite the house being “within walking distance” from the disaster management centre.
On Sunday‚ the Cele family in Nongoma lost all their belongings when their rented house burnt to the ground.
Community members alleged that firefighters‚ who were dressed in civilian clothes‚ took 30 minutes to respond to the fire.
Nongoma mayor Sthembiso Mathaba said the municipal manager‚ Bonga Ntanzi‚ has been tasked to conduct a full investigation into what has happened.
“We want to know why so that we can learn from this and prevent it from happening in the future‚” said Mathaba.
This followed a call by the Democratic Alliance for an investigation into the circumstances that led to the failure by the Disaster Management Centre to extinguish the fire. The DA questioned the number of personnel employed by Disaster Management and whether they were properly trained and equipped to carry out their duties.
Zwakele Mncwango‚ the DA’s provincial leader‚ said he has been in contact with the mayor and municipal manager.
“The municipal manager said the matter is being investigated and he will provide me with a preliminary report‚” said Mncwango.
“We want the municipal manager to investigate the state of readiness in this department to respond to emergencies. They need to explain what caused this lethargic response to the fire‚” he added.
A neighbour of the Cele’s‚ who has since taken in the family of four‚ said they have lost all their belongings.
“The mother was outside the house when the fire started. Samkelo‚ an 11-year-old child‚ was injured when he went into the house for his two-year-old baby brother who he thought was asleep in the house. Thankfully the baby was outside. People from the neighbourhood tried calling for help and even went to the fire station‚ but there was no one there.
“Neighbours carried buckets of water trying to put out the fire but it did not help. By the time the firefighters arrived everything had burnt down‚” said the woman‚ who did not want to be named.
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