Residents trained to handle fire crisis
Move to help prevent loss of homes, lives
IN AN effort to cope with the high rate of shack fires in Mzamomhle location near Gonubie, a non-governmental organisation, Lathitha Development Centre, paved the way for community members to receive firsthand training on Thursday on how to deal with such disasters.
Attended by 17 selected people from different sections of the community, the residents were given techniques on how to react to and prevent shack fires.
Lathitha Development Centre manager Mabhelandile Jekwa said they had invited Transvaal Training, which is an education and training development organisation that specialises in occupational health and safety skills training, to assist them after last weekend’s shack fires that left 13 families homeless.
“We have a problem with shack fires in this community so we invited Transvaal Training to try and assist people with the necessary skills to help when these incidents occur.
“They did it free of charge when they saw what happened here over the weekend,” Jekwa said.
When the Dispatch visited the centre, residents were attentively listening to trainer Siviwe Royi, who demonstrated how to use a fire extinguisher.
Jekwa said the development organisation would teach first-aid skills to the residents next week.
In January, 40 shacks were burnt to ashes in the settlement and more than 100 residents had to use the Mzamomhle Community Hall as a temporary shelter.
Local businesses and NGOs, led by the Buffalo City Metro Community Services department, provided food and clothing for the disaster refugees.
Jekwa said last week’s incident was apparently caused when a resident had an epileptic seizure while cooking with a primus stove.
The Dispatch could not get comment from the ward councilor Boy Boy Kilani, as he was in a meeting.
Buffalo City Metro head of community services portfolio head, Helen Neal-May praised the NGO, saying: “It is fantastic especially for youth empowerment, not only in terms of skills development, but also in terms of job creation.” —