Fire and emergency services countrywide will collapse due to massive staff shortages, the Independent Municipal and Allied Trade Union (Imatu) said on Friday.
The breakdown in fire services came about because municipalities had failed to set aside sufficient funds to fill critical vacancies, said general secretary Johan Koen.
”Another factor is the huge disparity in salaries paid to fire and emergency employees by various municipalities.”
According to Imatu, the Cape Town Fire Services Task Team reported last year that it needed 600 more firefighters.
”In spite of many much publicised promises, the city only appointed 70 new firefighters during 2007,” said Koen.
According to Imatu a number of fire stations had been closed because of staff shortages.
”This is having a profound and negative impact on response times and the staff’s ability to put out fires and provide other services, such as training communities in how to prevent fires and protect themselves against fire hazards.
”We are very concerned that firefighters, who risk their lives daily, are facing increasing dangers because there simply is not enough trained staff to deal with emergencies,” he said.
Imatu said poor service delivery was exacerbated by local government’s persistent and short-sighted policy of not prioritising fire and emergency services.
”The shortcomings in service delivery will be more than adequately addressed by municipalities allocating sufficient funds towards filling critical vacancies,” said Koen.
Imatu appealed to all municipalities to act now and take steps to address the staff, skills and equipment shortage.
Imatu represents about 70 000 members, employed in local government countrywide. — Sapa