Eastern Cape health centre doesn’t comply with fire safety rules

Eastern Cape MEC for Health, Ntandokazi Capa (in black) with other officials at the Dutywa Community Health Centre’s incinerator room which burnt down on Saturday. Photos: Joseph Chirume

• Eastern Cape MEC for Health Ntandokazi Capa has admitted the Dutywa Community Health Centre does not have a valid fire compliance certificate.
• The centre’s incinerator room was burnt down by a veld fire on Saturday. The fire was contained and the health centre is still operating as usual.
• SAFTU says the health department has failed to comply with safety regulations.

After a fire destroyed the incinerator room at the Dutywa Community Health Centre, Eastern Cape MEC for Health Ntandokazi Capa has admitted the centre does not have a valid fire compliance certificate.

Hot and dry weather conditions have resulted in a number of veld fires across the Eastern Cape recently. On Saturday, a veld fire reached the Dutywa health facility, resulting in the incinerator room catching fire. However, further damage to the centre was prevented, and it is still operating.

In another incident on the same day, 10 prefabricated homes used by staff at Holy Cross Hospital in Flagstaff also burnt down in a veld fire.

GroundUp was shown a valid certificate for Fire Equipment Compliance for the Holy Cross Hospital. But Capa acknowledged that the Dutwya centre does not have valid fire certificate.

“Not yet, we’re working on that as a department,” she said.

The Dutywa facility’s incinerator room is located near the main buildings which are used to store flammable containers.

Health workers and patients at the centre explained how they “went out of their way” to douse the fire, fearing it would reach the nearby fuel tank.

Everything inside the incinerator room was charred and melted.

A Dutywa resident who helped contain the fire, said, “Fuel tanks and power generators should be far away from wards and buildings that are busy with people to avoid disasters. Hospitals are even worse because there are patients who cannot walk or escape when there is a blaze in their wards.”

The South African Federation of Trade Unions (SAFTU) Gqeberha leader, Mzikazi Nkatha said compliance had always “been a problem” with the department.

“The issue of compliance has always been a problem with the department,” said Nkatha. “They continue to attribute this to budget cuts implemented by the national government, but they just don’t comply with the law. “What would have happened had the fuel tank and generator caught fire?”

Provincial health department spokesperson, Mkhululi Ndamase said both fires were caused by raging veld fires. He said it took the efforts of workers, patients, and community members to douse both fires.

He said the OR Tambo and Alfred Nzo district municipalities’ firefighters had helped at the Holy Cross Hospital fire in Flagstaff. No-one was injured, he said.

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