A disaster waiting to happen?
her male friend. The woman was walking alone near an open field when he raped and robbed her of her cellphone. The following year, June 2012, Nkosi forcefully grabbed a 20-year-old woman at the township’s main road who was on her way to the mall. He then dragged her to a bridge and raped her.
In March 2014, Nkosi raped a 36-yearold woman who was walking alone at night on her way home. “She managed to free herself and went to the police station to report the case. The suspect was arrested at the scene, got bail and while on bail, two months later in May 2014, he raped a 22-year-old woman under a bridge.”
In a separate incident, another rapist, Manqoba Nduduzo Mathebula, 28, was sentenced to two life sentences for rape as well as a 44-year sentence for housebreaking and theft.
The court heard that Mathebula targeted elderly women and teenagers who stayed alone. In one of the incidents, he repeatedly broke into a house of a 76-yearold elderly woman and raped her. He also used the same modus operandi where he raped a 26-year-old woman. – ANA THE South Durban Basin community, which is surrounded by oil refineries and chemical plants, has raised the alarm over the eThekwini Municipality’s alleged lack of an emergency response plan should a disaster break out.
The recent three-day warehouse fire in Clairwood triggered safety questions from concerned residents.
They want to know how safe they would be in the event of a “deadly explosion” from one of the refineries.
The South Durban Community Environmental Alliance (SDCEA), and the Clairwood Residents and Ratepayers Association (CRRA) said the community’s close proximity to the chemical facilities required “at least” community drills, sirens and a clear indication of which assembly points to go to when disaster struck.
In response, the eThekwini Municipality sent Independent Media a June 2016 revision of their municipal disaster management plan, which the city initially adopted eight years ago.
According to this document, should there be a disaster that affects the area, “it is imperative that appropriate plans are in place to initiate and manage an off-site response to ensure that suitable public protective actions are implemented and to restore normality as swiftly as possible.”
The document also refers to levels of command, control and co-ordination should the severity of the incident escalate or threaten to do so.
Desmond D’Sa, SDCEA co-ordinator, said the community did not know about this plan despite many requests for one.
“You can’t have a plan and keep it in the cupboard. It should be made available to the people. If one or more of the refineries were to explode, would the municipality only then start showing people the evacuation plan? How would it help then? ” D’Sa said. He said early warning sirens should be installed throughout the area of “likely impact”.
Ravin Brijlalsaid, CRRA spokesperson said they had been worried “way before” the warehouse fire incident.
“During the recent fire, we sent out a message to our WhatsApp chat group, alerting our members to evacuate if wind diverted smoke to their homes. Evacuate where to? We don’t know.”
Sharon Hoosen, DA member in eThekwini’s safety and emergency services committee, said she was not aware of the risk assessment and emergency response plan for the area. –