​​ ​​​Awareness​


      ​Fire Services Awareness

  1. The Department of Cooperative Governance's National Disaster Management Centre (NDMC), has entered into partnership with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and its regulatory agencies i.e. National Regulator of Compulsory Specifications (NRCS) and the National Consumer Commission (NCC) to remove these unsafe and illegal stoves from our communities thereby contributing to reducing the risk of fires. The campaign gives effect to the realisation of the mandates and roles of both the NCC and the NRCS. The NCC, empowered by Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008, is tasked with ensuring consumer protection in the country, while the NRCS, as mandated by the NRCS Act 8 of 2008, and oversees the regulation and approval of consumer products to ensure that they meet certain compulsory standards and specifications.

  2. ​This campaign follows a Winter Safety Campaign that was launched by Minister Rob Davies in Kya Sands on 26 June 2015. This roll-out has enabled face-to-face community engagements through which communities were made aware of the risks posed by non-compliant products with regards to safety, health and matters of environmental protection and the rights of the consumers. Minister Davies, together with Minister of Economic Development (Minister Patel) led a national launch of this joint campaign during December 2015 in Tembisa, Ekurhuleni.

  3. ​During the reporting period (July 2016 – December 2016), four (4) national events were held in Free State (Masilonyana), North West (Matlosana), Northern Cape (Sol Plaatjie) as well as Western Cape (City of Cape Town). As part of this campaign, approximately 5000 unsafe and non-compliant stoves were removed and replaced with safe and compliant ones. While the campaign includes distribution of safe and compliant paraffin stoves to identified beneficiaries within communities with the aim of eliminating the unapproved ones, it also contain an enforcement element where inspectors from both the NCC and the NRCS remove non-compliant stoves from the shop floors in various areas across the country.