George in need of disaster management
The need for George's own disaster management was identified in Council on Tuesday by Mayor Melvin Naik. In his address, Naik referred to the fire crisis in the district over the last 12 days.
"This experience once again was an indication that we as council will have to up our game as far as disaster management is concerned," he said. "My fear was, what if the situation got worse than what it was? Would we have been able to cope with the limited resources at hand? It is evidently clear that we will have to invest in disaster management."
This sentiment was shared by other councillors. PBI Councillor Virgill Gericke said the George Municipality does not have a disaster management and asked for the appointment of a disaster manager. "And then secondly we must stop appointing people for political expediency. That environment is a highly sensitive environment where you need educated people and not political appointees," he said. "It is because of political appointees that we did not know what we were doing in this environment now. We were running like afkop chickens and we did not know what to do in these circumstances." Gericke also said that the George Municipality did not have official spokespersons during the disaster.
"More than 90 000 hectares were blazed to the ground," said ACDP Councillor Johan du Toit. "The question remains, how and where did the fires start?"
He posed the question why immediate action was not taken to extinguish the fire when it started in Herold.
"Was it to save money? If we look at the immense impact the fire had on our economy, we didn't save money, we wasted money."
Du Toit said according to his understanding, there were different views about the management of the fire at the time of the disaster. He asked for an urgent investigation into the matter. He applauded the mayor for addressing the issue of a disaster management.
Regular updates and quick action
Municipal Manager Trevor Botha said in this instance, the disaster communication was of the best. "Everybody received information on a regular update."
A WhatsApp group was formed to keep councillors informed as the situation changed. He said there was immediate response to the fires in Herold, but because of the dryness of the area and the combustible material the fires spread rapidly.
"In terms of the management of the fire disaster, the Garden Route District Municipality is responsible for the Joint Operational Centre and they take command of the disaster that happens. We play the supporting role from the George Municipality's side," said Botha.
He said there were huge responses and lots of support from neighbouring municipalities and Cape Town International Airport, that has send a 5 000-litre fire truck to assist in fighting the fires. The firefighters and all role players who helped during the disaster were applauded for their efforts by all the councillors.
My fear was, what if the situation got worse than what it was? Would we have been able to cope with the limited resources at hand?
Du Toit said George is privileged not to have lost any lives. Naik and fellow councillors all conveyed their condolences to the families in Karatara and Farleigh area who lost loved ones in the devastating fires.
Scamsters are doing their rounds in the aftermath of the fires that spread over George and the Knysna district. In a post on their Facebook page, Knysna Municipality warned the public about these opportunists and asked them not to give any money to "these individuals", but report them directly to the police. "The municipality did not send any officials to ask for money from residents," reads the post. "Please note that this is a SCAM." At the time of going to press no incidents have been reported in George. According to Herman Pieters, senior communications officer of the Garden Route District Municipality, the public can make donations into an account which was made available by the George Municipality.
He said it is important to note that this account will be audited by the Auditor General. "If it is found that funds are not used for the purpose for which it has been created, there will be a direct impact on the clean audit of a municipality," said Pieters. "Municipal managers consent to the creation of such types of accounts."
Donations in support of the fire disaster can be made to the following account:
Bank: Absa
Account Number: 01022220981
Branch Code: 632005
SWIFT CODE: ABSAZAJJCPESORTCODE 632005
Type: Cheque
BTW/VAT NO: 4630193664
E-mail: rharmse@george.gov.za
Website: http://www.george.org.za
Deposit reference: Fire/Disaster
Fax: 086 6457188