Public Works disputes fire report
THE Department of Public Works and Infrastructure has poured cold water on the City of Cape Town fire department’s report that found, among other things, that the sprinkler system in Parliament had not been serviced for four years.
The report was compiled in the wake of the fire that engulfed Parliament last week.
Yesterday, department spokesperson Thami Mchunu said inspections of the parliamentary precinct were conducted before the 2019, 2020 and 2021 Stateof-the-nation addresses (Sonas).
He said that reports stemming from these inspections were addressed to the department’s regional manager – and were acted upon.
“For the New Assembly building, the chief fire officer’s report identified minor concerns with regard to signage colour and positioning, as well as a query on the status of the communication system for emergency evacuation.
“For the Old Assembly building, additional signage and fire panels and phones that were in need of repair were identified in the reports.”
Mchunu said that upon receipt of the reports, the department initiated the necessary servicing.
“Once all servicing is completed, the department collects all certificates of compliance and servicing records and submits these to the Provincial Joint Operations Centre.
“The regional office has confirmed that this practice was also conducted ahead of both Sona 2019 (February and June 2019) and Sona 2020 and 2021 events.”
Mchunu said that subsequent to the servicing before the 2021 Sona, there was a power outage across the Cape Town CBD on December 17, resulting in additional checks of the fire systems.
“The fire systems were reset, checked and confirmed (to be) functional by contractors on December 21, 2021, following the power outage,” he said.
However, DA MP Samantha Graham said glaring inconsistencies between the information provided to MPS on Tuesday and the information gleaned from the fire department’s post-incident report, smacked of an attempt to shield officials and the executive from culpability.
“It is becoming more and more evident that people did not do their jobs and this failure resulted in a fire of devastating proportions that is going to cost the taxpayers of this country billions of rands,” she said.
“Minister De Lille must come clean about the failings of her department to protect our heritage; the warnings that were issued, in reports such as the BDO report; and, the ongoing misinformation and lack of information being provided to MPS,” Graham said.
In the fire department’s report, divisional commander Wayne Visser said the sprinkler control valve set on the southern façade of the Old Assembly building had not activated.
He also said it was unclear which parts of the building was fitted with sprinklers.
“The required layout block plan at the valve set was illegible.”
Visser said the fire detection and alarm were present yet uncertain because of the extensive damage that occurred.
He said that a major contributing factor to the excessive heat and smoke encountered throughout the building was the open-latching of fire doors on to the fire escape staircases, using small metal latches.
Station commander JJ Williams said the National Assembly sprinkler valve last service date was February 2017 and the valve appeared to be closed.
“If properly serviced, this valve should have been locked with a chain in an open position and a block plan would have been available showing system layout,” Williams said.