Some essential services in Emfuleni have ground to a halt following a diesel shortage, which means municipal vehicles cannot attend to waste collection and electric faults. Firefighters also claimed they could not do their work as their trucks were stuck at the three stations under the council. An employee who works at the fire department said while they have diesel challenges, their trucks have some fuel but could only go to fires within short distances.
However, another employee claimed they had not had diesel for 11 days, and that they failed to attend to a vehicle accident in Sebokeng on Monday morning. “As a firefighter, I have nothing to do if there is no diesel. I cannot go to the streets without diesel.
To put out a house fire, I need a fire truck that is running, but without diesel I cannot go out. We have not had diesel for 11 days now. We go to work and just do nothing,” said the employee.
Read Full Article on The Sowetan
[paywall]
A manager at one of the stations was reluctant to comment. “The municipality does not have any financial challenges; it is just an issue of appointing service providers. Had everything gone well, the new contractor should have started last week,” said Mako, adding that fuel would be available on Tuesday.
He, however, rejected that firefighting was affected. “I don’t think there has been any fire that we could not attend to, so that would be false. There has been delays with the appointment [of a contractor], affecting some of the services, especially electricity and waste removal departments.
Ward councillor Peter Verbeek said residents were “livid” after having no electricity for more than 28 days, and having their rubbish not collected. “My understanding is that there is no diesel coming in, and as of today, my understanding is that Rand Water has attached our accounts,” he said.
[/paywall]
All Zim News – Bringing you the latest news and updates.
