Mock exercise assesses emergency capacity
AN exercise to assess the Melmoth community’s readiness concerning the national rural safety strategy was held around the town on Friday afternoon.
The participants included the Melmoth SAPS and related branches, the Forensic Team from Ulundi, KZN Emergency Rescue Service, Mthonjaneni Municipality Protection Services, Mfezi Security and the Melmoth Farmers’ Association including their Farm Watch.
This combined to make the exercise a great success.
After receiving a report of ‘an incident on a rural property’, Mfezi Security with their canine and handler and a Melmoth police member soon tracked down two ‘suspects’ who had fled on foot.
A further three ‘suspects’ who fled in a vehicle were also apprehended by Melmoth SAPS members as farmers closed the access routes.
After the exercise, Melmoth Station Commander, Col Robert Souls addressed the participants and asked them to complete a questionnaire so that a full assessment of the exercise could be made.
This will be used to identify emergency short-comings and strengths.
It was agreed that the exercise was a worthwhile one and should be followed up using urban and other crime scenarios to improve co-operation between the various emergency agencies.