MOSSEL BAY NEWS - "By not providing a service such as firefighting, municipalities would be failing their constitutional obligations," the Mossel Bay Council heard at its monthly meeting on Thursday, 27 June.

There seems to be a difference of opinion between local B-municipalities and the Garden Route District Municipality (GRDM) about the placement of the fire services.

Mossel Bay
Mossel Bay Municipal Council approved recommendations that the full functions of a Fire Brigade Service was the responsibility of the local municipalities (B-municipalities), therefore remains the onus of the Mossel Bay Municipality.

Council agreed that the recommendation by Mr C Diener of the Provincial Disaster Management Centre and Fire Services about the placement of fire services in the Garden Route be accepted. Diener recommended that the full functions of a fire brigade service be the responsibility of the B-municipalities and that the district municipalities play an oversight role in terms of standardisation and the coordination of functions should a fire event reach proportions larger than the capabilities of the local B-municipalities.

Council heard that, in recent years, the role of the fire service in many communities has expanded beyond fire suppression. Fire prevention and public education have appropriately begun receiving an increased emphasis as the proactive elements of a Fire Service Delivery System.

In support of the recommendations, it was said that residents are dependent on the fire services to ensure their protection against dangers of fire, entrapment, explosion, dangerous goods incidents and any emergency event that may occur in a community. This item before the Mossel Bay Council followed a decision by the Garden Route District Council that resolved, during a meeting in March, that the total fire service function must reside at district level and that a proper consultation with the B-municipalities and other affected parties must be undertaken.

Task team negotiations
The George Herald, sister publication of the Mossel Bay Advertiser this week reported that the Garden Route District Council on Thursday, 27 June, noted that the fire services task team will continue negotiations with the managers responsible for oversight over fire services at each local municipality to formulate a district service delivery and funding model. 

The Western Cape Department of Local Government, responsible for fire services, is said to have informed local municipalities of its intention to restructure fire services to simplify and centralise fire services.

However, due to the challenges faced by various of the local B-municipalities in providing a fire service, it was apparently agreed with the minister that the status quo will prevail and that the current programme of capacity building would continue until such time a differentiated model suitable to each district will be proposed.

Spokesperson for the Western Cape Department of Local Government, James-Brent Styan said: "Both municipal authorities would have a role in fire services moving forward, as per the recommendations made. Recommendations have been made and now the municipalities need to determine a way forward."

Mossel Bay residents can boast about a team of highly committed firefighters at the Mossel Bay Fire and Disaster Management Services.

Continuous training increases the professional service that has become the norm at the Mossel Bay Fire and Disaster Management Services. Photos: Grey Stopforth

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