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Dr KK Fire and Rescue Dept's failure to reach emergencies on time threatens lives of Maquassi Hills communities




Tswelelang - The delay in accessing emergency incidents in Ext 17 and Mamarela informal settlement by the Dr Kenneth Kaunda District Fire and Rescue Department located in Wolmaransstad has threatened the safety of communities in Maquassi Hills as fire has destroyed other several homes in Tswelelang in late July and early August 2026

An affected community member in Ext 17, Kelebgile Chooe has recounted the moments when the fire ravaged through their entire shack on Sunday afternoon, the 2nd of August 2026

Chooe said, in order to reach a fire station in Wolmaransstad, they had to first contact the Wolmaransstad Police Station after trying several times to reach it due to non-working emergency landline which has been like that for 2-3 months


Wolmaransstad Link was informed that, the fire station located in Wolmaransstad, has 6 emergency vehicles with only one operating while others remain stationery, this isssue has raised questions as to what will happen if other fire incidents occur in several areas . Other issues had also been raised to Wolmaransstad Link that, the safety of the employees at the fire station has been comprised as the motor gate is not working at all, the entrance door to the office and the garage where the vehicles are kept is also not working

Chooe also said, the fire station personnel delayed to respond in time to the burning shack as the fire was too strong to handle, luckily, during the time of the incident, there was no one inside the house, all family members attended their personal arrends 

"In order for us to reach the fire station, we first had to call the police station to seek assistance and then the police contacted the fire station and they reached them, however, the fire station personnel came at their own time. When they arrived, they found everything burned down, all the furniture had already burned down" - Kelebogile Chooe, affected resident and eyewitness 

When speaking to Wolmaransstad Link, Chooe said, there was no faulty cable from where the fire started as that room had no lights or any connected cable

"The room where the fire occurred, had no cable installed, however, we don't know what started the for because everyone had gone out of the house when the fire occurred, I just started seeing a small fire where I alerted my neighbors, by the time we got to the house, the fire had already escalated to the end of left side of the house damaging meter box. Currently we do not have electricity to our home, we tried to contact Eskom offices in Wolmaransstad to come and assist with the cable but we were told to contact alternative numbers" - Kelebogile Chooe, Affected resident and eyewitness 


The fire that destroyed the house, also entirely damaged a meter box and slightly affected an electrical cable which supplies power to the shack, during the time when Wolmaransstad Link and another media house reached to the incident which has multiple days since it occurred, the half slightly burned power line was still connected to the grid posing a risk to other households

A community leader and activist, Mpho Masibi said, the cable which is still connected to the grid may be dangerous to other residents 

"You can even see that this cable is still connected to the grid and it poses a risk to other households, the same incident may occur in Ext 17 where multiple households may burn down due to this unconnected cable which has slightly burning because it still has power, close to four households are connected to this one that has already burned down" - Mpho Masibi, Community leader and activist 

Another affected resident, Leonard Pelesa who was at work during the time his shack burned down, says he doesn't know what started the fire because when he was at work, he had left her girlfriend at home, who later went to fetch their child from pre-school, he said, he is the only one who smokes, but at the time the fire ravaged through his house, he was at work when he received a call from the neighbors informing him of the situation 

" I received a call while I was at work being told that my house is burning down, I then called my partner telling her that our house is burning down, she then came to see for herself, a fire brigade was then contact, but was unavailable. The brigade was called almost 3-4 times without getting hold of them, now my house has burned and I'm extremely hurt by this. My neighbors tried to defuse the fire without any luck, they brought water to die the fire but could not do so, from what I was told, the fire was too strong to handle. My neighbors tried by all to defuse the fire, but failed at their attempt" - Affected resident, Leonard Pelesa 


Community Activist, Mpho Masibi says, failure to reach fire incidents on time by the fire station has led to situation turning bad

" We have a problem with fire incidents in Tswelelang, we don't know what we should do, the worse part is, our communities do not have access to water when these emergencies occur. You could imagine for someone who lives in Mamarela informal settlement have their house burning because of there are no campaigns or awareness that the fire department can run to educate people about fire. We also experience veld fire in Maquassi Hills, at this point, things are bad. So we had to raise our concerns and if they do not address this matter within few days, we will shut down that fire station" - Community leader and activist, Mpho Masibi 

Maquassi Hills Municipality says, the lines are not working because the telecommunications service provider's contract has ended, residents have been advised to use alternative emergency contact numbers should they need fire and rescue services 


"As a result of the telephones not working, it is because the service provider's contract came to an end, now we are in a process of ensuring that a new service provider is appointed through relevant supply chain procedures, however, we have been told that the phones were down for 90 days. The municipality is aware of the problem and they are making sure that the problem is restored,there is an alternative number provided to the residents by the district should they need fire and rescue services" - Lerato Bontes, Maquassi Hills Municipality Spokesperson 

The municipality has acknowledged the challenges facing the fire station due to the condition of the emergency vehicles and fire fighting equipment at the station 

Wolmaransstad Link proud partner of Learners Classroom Wolmaransstad 

To book a Learners Driver spot, contact them on: 072 303 1918 or visit them at: Rood Street NR 9 Wolmaransstad 2630

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