Emergency personnel attacked, two ambulances out of service due to damage caused
City of Ekurhuleni Disaster and Emergency Management Services (DEMS) is concerned by the spate of attacks on paramedics, firefighters and damage to emergency vehicles.
A paramedic had to be hospitalised after an attack in Tokoza and two ambulances were decommissioned due to broken windows caused by members of the community in Reiger Park and Ramaphosa Informal Settlement respectively at the weekend.
A member of the community who was among a group of about fifty people in Empilisweni informal settlement in Tokoza attacked a paramedic just before entering a response vehicle after he declared a patient dead on Friday, 5 July. The paramedic rushed to Tokoza Police Station to report the matter, after which he was then taken to Union Hospital for medical check-up and discharged on the same day.
The same Friday night, an ambulance was ambushed, window shattered in Ramaphosa informal settlement in Boksburg with a patient on board while proceeding to Tambo Memorial Hospital. Fortunately, no casualties were recorded as a result.
On Sunday, 7 July 2019 a paramedic was strangled by a patient while attending him in an ambulance in Reiger Park. He managed to free himself and jumped out of the ambulance. The alleged patient and his compliances followed the crew with one attacker wilding a knife to the crew. They stoned the ambulance and a window was broken. The crews managed to escape from the scene without much physical harm.
Both cases were reported to the police and are still subject of investigations.
The City of Ekurhuleni is pleading with the public not to attack emergency personnel and isolate elements that instigate attacks on emergency personnel and vehicles. An emergency vehicle that is decommissioned due to damages may take a long period before it is returned to service, and that might affect member of the community who may need emergency services during such period.
One killed and one injured in a single vehicle crash in Boksburg
A young male driver was declared dead on scene and the passenger survived with intense injuries after the vehicle they were travelling in, rolled several times in Jubilee road Boksburg yesterday evening.
Rescue team from Boksburg central fire station and paramedics, all responded to the scene immediately after reception of the call at 22:48 and on arrival, both the driver and the passenger were still caught inside the vehicle.
Prehospital medical treatment was initiated and unfortunately, the driver couldn`t respond positively and was declared dead on scene by paramedics. The critically injured passenger was transported by an ambulance and admitted in Tambo Memorial hospital for further medical care.
The cause of the crash is still a subject of investigations by the City of Ekurhuleni traffic officials.
The road had to be closed for the duration of the operation.
GREENFIELDS PROTEST ACTION REGARDING ELECTRICITY OUTAGE
The trio arrested for public violence and malicious damage to property 
The EMPD Specialized Services comprising of Public Order Policing Task Team, SWAT, K9, Equestrian and First Responder (FRU) units on Saturday, 22 June arrested a total of four suspects during the protest action by the Greenfields residents who blockaded streets with burning tyres and pelted metro police vehicles with stones. The residents’ gripe was that electricity to the area was cut off.
Due to the generally unruly behavior of the protestors who were blockading and damaging public roads with burning tyres as well as pelting the metro police vehicles with stones, the metro police were compelled to use reduced rubber bullets to disperse the crowds.
Three suspects were apprehended on charges of public violence and malicious damage to property and another one arrested for interfering with police officers duties. The suspect who was hindering the officers in their official duties allegedly also threatened the metro police with death and a woman, purportedly his wife, claimed that she was an employee of the City of Ekurhuleni and well connected and that the officers must expect dire consequences.
All four suspects were detained at Eden Park police station and were expected to appear in the Palmridge Magistrate’s Court on Monday.
VEHICLE SUSPECTED OF ROBBERIES SIGHTED IN VOSLOORUS AND CHASED INTO NGUNI HOSTEL
On Saturday, 15 June around 9am, the EMPD SWAT and Community Liaison (CLU) units acted upon information received about a white Nissan bakkie allegedly responsible for a spate of robberies in the area that resulted in the arrests of three suspects and the recovery of an unlicensed firearm. The arrests were effected following a high speed chase in the streets of Vosloorus that ended at the Nguni hostel.
The EMPD SWAT and CLU members in two vehicles sighted the vehicle and the three occupants of the Nissan bakkie disregarded the metro police instructions to stop and a high speed ensued. The suspects were eventually cornered within the premises of Nguni hostel where the driver jumped out of the vehicle with firearm in hand taking cover behind his vehicle and pointing the firearm at the metro police. The metro police reacted swiftly by wounding the suspect in the knee before he could fire his gun.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the Nissan bakkie was hijacked in Mpumalanga Province in January this year. The wounded suspect was transported to Tembisa hospital for medical attention while the other two suspects were detained at Vosloorus police station.
Duduza unfinished taxi rank turned into a bush
The taxi rank that is not yet finished is now stuck and bushy, it was forcefully built after the taxi drivers indicated that they did not want it. The place is now dirty and full of bush which may soon be Nyaope smoking zone like the rank in Nala (it has been years since they had that rank but it’s not been occupied ever since it was built.) This place needs to be attended to because there is a school near it and it will put children in danger if it us not used for its rightful purpose. One can’t even tell what is happening inside that bush as nobody can see through it. People feel like the money that wad used to build another rank that is not operational should have done something more beneficial for a community, such as a shopping centre or education centre. Residents feel that money is wasted on things that are unnecessary to the community, instead of things that are more important. The rank has been there for some time and there is no sign of it being completed. The big question is, “When will duduza improve like other places?” The community members fear for their lives now that it’s winter and it’s too dark, it is difficult for one to see criminals hiding in there waiting for a victim to show up.
The residents requested that the place be cleaned up because they feel that it is pointless to have it while it is dirty and not being utilised for its rightful purpose. There are no security guards employed to watch the place and ensure that it is safe if it’s going to be occupied anytime soon. Duduza is one of the areas that are struck by high crime, therefore with increasing kidnappings and killings, the unfinished rank could be used as a hideout for thieves as well as kidnappers. “We as the community urge the municipality and ward Mayor to do something with that place as soon as possible, our lives are in danger, we have people who go to work early while it’s dark, and others work till late and they have to pass there near that rank; we want to have a safe environment, and the rank near the main road is not safe. How long will it take for this suburb to improve like others? we lacking a lot of useful things, they should have used the money to built a proper sports ground as it was before they turned it into a forest” said an unhappy resident in anonymity. The community members are not happy at all with how this taxi rank has turned out. The community indicated that it is time that they fight and say “enough is enough”, as they want to see Duduza making a difference. They believe that if they don’t stand up for themselves no one will know of their worries and respect their rights.
The Cell-c Inspired Take a Gil Child to Work Day Benefits Ekurhuleni Beneficiaries
This year’s version of “Take a Girl Child To Work Day” took place on the 30th May 2019 and it proved an opportunity for a lifelong learning exposure for some 200 girl-children across three Ekurhuleni townships, Tembisa, Daveyton and Etwatwa. There were two organisations that the girls were destined to visit namely the South African Air Force and Hensoldt Optronics.
The rationale for having the day is to assist the girls to believe in themselves and look beyond the issues of the patriarchal society. Some of the most vulnerable groups in our country and the world are women and girls. For this reason, girls have to change the manner in which the society is socialised on the issues of raising girl and boy children. Girls can be anything
Careers in the aviation industry and in particular in the South African Air Force were deliberated on and aspects of the process of career making decision were discussed about various careers. Most of the officers and professionals that were presenting were women for the sole objective of depicting the meaningful influence that women should and can occupy in the corporate and economic front in the country. A tour of the South African Museum was conducted and the history background of the air forces was also narrated.
Hensoldt Optronics is a multinational company, 30% owned by the State Owned Enterprise Denel, and one of only three companies in the whole world to manufacture the optronic products they do. This tell you that it has technology and the know-how that is rare and scare the wold over, as such it trains and owns intellectual Property that is sought after. Unity and Dinoto secondary schools were but two of the schools that benefited by having their pupils there. The local NGO, RGM School of Excellence, facilitated these excursions and the transportation was sponsored by the Kempton Park based company Trollope Mining Services.
Two Trucks burst into flames after a crash on N3 freeway
Disaster and Emergency Management Services (DEMS) crews from Zonkizizwe, Hlahatsi and Wadeville fire stations, battled the flames of two articulate trucks after the crash on the N3 freeway south bound before Petroport just outside Vosloorus in Ekurhuleni.
In the early evening around 19:10, Tuesday the 04th June 2019, a fleet of four fire engines responded simultaneously from different fire stations to the incident of a truck tanker and a container truck which were reported to be engulfed by flames. A Rescue pumper, Major industrial pumper and two Water Tankers, all responded to the scene.
On arrival, the two truck horses were already crumbling because of the extent heat from the fire. Both drivers, escaped without any harm. Active firefighting was initiated, and blaze was contained and extinguished without further damage.
On preliminary investigations, one driver who was found on scene stated that, thick smoke emitted from the grass fire burning along the freeway was blown across the road, obscuring their vision and subsequently, that led to the crash.
As per information on scene, the trucks burst into flames because of the ruptured fuel tanks from both trucks that led the diesel fuel to flow downstream to the burning grass. Backburn took place and led both trucks to be engulfed by flames.
Traffic had to be diverted onto the opposite side of the freeway, allowing one lane south and one lane north. The road was closed for the duration of the rehabilitation processes.
City of Ekurhuleni traffic officials are investigating the actual cause of the crash.
MERGENCY NUMBERS:
10177 : National Toll-Free Number
112 : Cell Phone Emergency Line
(011) 458- 0911 : Life Threatening Ekurhuleni Emergency Line
Bloody weekend in Ekurhuleni roads
Only until Saturday evening, seven lives were lost due road crashes and two others due to gun shot wounds in different incidents around the City of Ekurhuleni.
It all started on Friday morning the 31st May 2019 on the N17 freeway east bound, Osborn road on ramp when two light motor vehicles crashed resulting with two passengers being killed on scene. An alleged stationary pick-up truck “Bakkie” with nine occupants was apparently packed on an emergency lane when another one came from behind and crashed on it hurting seven passengers and instantly killing two others.
The freeway had to be closed for the duration of the operation. One of the four critically injured patients had to be flown to Sunshine hospital in Benoni by medical Helicopter. The others were road transported by ambulances to the same hospital.
Saturday afternoon the 1st June 2019 at around 16:49, a multiple shooting case was reported at Vegieland shopping centre, Klippoortjie park in Germiston. When paramedics and law enforcement units arrived on scene, two adults, a male and a female were found lying motionless on the floor inside SPAR supermarket.
Information on site states that there was a robbery that took place and the suspects short randomly and instantly killing the two adults alleged to be the shoppers.
The two were declared dead on scene and the scene was handed over to the police for further investigations.
At around 18:10, a fatal crash happened on R103 road northbound Mapleton Boksburg near Flanagan road turn off. Four vehicles were involved in crash, instantly killing three adult males.
Three light motor vehicles and apparently a minibus as well which wasn’t found on scene, were all part of the crash.
Apparently, VW GOLF had mechanical breakdown and was manually pushed by two of its passengers. Ford fiesta came from behind and crashed onto it, instantly killing the two and their driver. JAWS OF Life had to be used to recover the deceased driver behind the steering wheel.
The driver of the ford fiesta was with the two years old toddler in the vehicle and both were transported to Clinix private hospital in Vosloorus with serious injuries. The third vehicle, Toyota conquest with four occupants, had minor damages and all its four occupants escaped with minor injuries. A minibus wasn`t found on scene though information states that it was involved with minor damages and with no casualties.
Just couple of minutes thereafter, about four hundred meters away from the initial crash, another two light motor vehicles “a sedan VW Polo and VW GOLF” crash took place. It was on the same road where R103 meets with Luvuyo street in Mapleton Boksburg.
One adult female passenger was declared dead on scene, two others, an adult female driver and a male passenger, both sustained serious injuries. In the Golf, there were two occupants who as well sustain serious injuries. All the four injured from both vehicles were medically treated on scene before transportation to Sunshine hospital in Benoni.
Rescue teams from both incidents had to use Jaws of Life equipment to recover the deceased stuck from ruined vehicles in both crashes.
Another crash took place in Primrose Oak street where a biker lost control of his bike and crashed to death. Primrose rescue crews responded promptly to the scene and on arrival, they found a male biker aged around 20 years of age lying lifelessly on the road. Unfortunately, on assessment and treatment, the patient was declared dead on scene by paramedics.
The three fatal crashes are under City of Ekurhuleni`s traffic officers` investigations.
Around 20:26 the same Saturday evening, an articulate truck was torched on R554 east bound near Rondebult bird sanctuary in Klippoortjie Park. Fire fighters from Alberton, Tokoza including Wadeville fire stations, responded out with four fire engines for intervention. Two industrial pumpers and two water tankers to extinguish the well alight vehicle.
Police had to be called as members of Buhle Park community came in numbers to help themselves with the groceries from the huge trailer. That hampered the smooth operations of the fire fighters hence police had to be called to enforcement the law.
As per information received on scene, the truck was hijacked and torched after the driver was assaulted and left at the point of hijacking which is alleged to have been around Roodekop industrial area Germiston.
The road had to be closed for the duration of the operation.
MERGENCY NUMBERS:
10177 : National Toll-Free Number
112 : Cell Phone Emergency Line
(011) 458- 0911 : Life Threatening Ekurhuleni Emergency Line
SCAM ALERT! DO NOT GET ROBBED
The City of Ekurhuleni warns the public to be aware of multiple types of scams that have been carrying on in the name of the City for the past few months. The City has been inundated with complaints from unsuspecting victims who have been defrauded of their hard-earned cash. To date, more than 20 people have been defrauded of over R2 million through these scams.
The most popular scam by the scammers is one that is formulated around a fake tender for waste wheelie bins.
The perpetrators of this criminal act send possible service providers an appointment letter bearing the City’s logo together with the fraudulently generated order number purported to come from the City. Service providers are thereafter requested to deposit a certain amount of money and they are told to deliver the 260L wheelie bins at 47 Van Buuren Road in Bedfordview.
In other scams, targeted victims are requested to participate in a tender for supply and delivery of electrical mobile metering devices for technicians. Ratepayers are also targeted by being issued with fake letters of water supply termination due to alleged meter tampering and subsequently requested to pay a “spot fine” for reconnection or retention of services.
Grand-in-Aid applicants are requested to pay R2 500 to fast-track processing of their applications.
Job applicants have also been targeted to pay money for their applications to be processed.
The City informs all Grand-in-Aid and job applicants that applications for Grand-in-Aid are handled and processed free of charge and all job vacancies and applications are done online through the City’s website – www.ekurhuleni.gov.za.
The following pointers provided below may assist to differentiate scammers from legit communication by the City:
* The name of the City is City of Ekurhuleni, not Ekurhuleni Municipality;
* Landlines in the City have the 999 prefix;
* The email address for staff is: persons’name.surname@ekurhuleni.gov.za and not XXX@ekurhuleni-gov.org or any other variation; and
* The tender office of the City is NOT situated at 47 Van Buuren Road, Bedfordview.
The City urges companies and individuals to be very vigilant and to verify information on the website (www.ekurhuleni.gov.za).
To confirm the authenticity of quotations or tenders, contact details are available on the City’s website. Bidders can contact Hannes.vSchalkwyk@ekurhuleni.gov.za or Siphokazi.Xokozela@ekurhuleni.gov.za.
Report fraud and corruption on 0800 102 201.
SAMWU Statement on 6th Administration Cabinet Announcement
The South African Municipal Workers’ Union (SAMWU) notes and welcomes the Cabinet as announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa on the 29th May. Weparticularly welcome the decision by the President to heed calls from all corners of South Africa by reducing the Cabinet size from 36 to 28.
We also welcome the incisiveness of the Cabinet in terms of gender and generational mix. As the President correctly said, this is the first time that women make up 50% Cabinet of composition. This is a clear indication of the faith that the President has in women leadership and that of young people.
We further welcome the commitment by the President that he will be signing performance agreements with all Ministers. We believe that Ministers should be held accountable for failure to deliver on priorities of government and as such, this performance agreements should be used as a tool in quantifying their performance or failure thereof.
SAMWU in particular congratulates and welcome the appointment of Minister Nkosazana-Dlamini Zuma and her deputies, Parks Tau and Obed Bapela in theCooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) Department. We believe that the inclusion of Parks Tau who is a former City of Johannesburg Mayor will add value to the department as municipalities are collapsing without being provided with the necessary attention and supportthey so much need from the national government.
First on the agenda of COGTA should be to ensure that the department intervenes in Amahlathi Municipality in the Eastern Cape which has written to workers informing them that they will not be paid their salaries for May and June, indicating that the next time municipal workers receive their salaries will be the end of July 2019. Essentially the municipality is requesting workers to render their labour for two months without pay.
The non-payment of salaries in full and on time is one of the challenges faced by municipal workers on the 25th of every month. We want the department to ensure that people are held liable for not paying municipalworkers on time, while third parties such as medical aid, pension funds and funeral policies are months in arrears.
We are interested in seeing municipalities which are functional and fulfilling their constitutional mandate of delivering services to South Africans. We will, therefore, be writing to the new Minister seeking a meeting on the state of the country’s municipalities and providing solutions on how they can be salvaged in the interest of service deliveryfor all South Africans.
We will also be seeking a meeting with both COGTA and the new Finance Minister, Tito Mboweni before he begins to draft the budget to ensure that municipalities are prioritized in terms of equitable share. Municipalitiesare expected to deliver services to almost 60 million South Africans on less than 10% of government expenditure. This has resulted in the challenges which we see in municipalities, challenges which are financial in nature.
We will further be urging the department to ensure that municipalities no longer deliver services using programmes such as Extended Public Works Programme (EPWP) and tenders for functions which are competencies of municipalities. We want municipalities to employ people permanently are direct without using such programmes as they are exploitative in nature and do not fundamentally change the lives of EPWP participants who areperforming the same functions as those permanently employed by municipalities.
We wish all Ministers and their deputies well in their newly found responsibilities. The expectations from South Africans are huge, we, however, believe that the men and women appointed by the President are equal to the task. South Africans want to see fundamental changes in theirlives, they want to see a government that works and delivers services.
*Issued by SAMWU Secretariat *
STATEMENT ON APPOINTMENT OF CABINET
The Presidency has noted media reports that President Ramaphosa is expected to announce the members of the new executive tomorrow, Monday 27 May 2019.
The Presidency wishes to advise that the announcement will be made later in the week.
The Constitution of the Republic stipulates that the President must assume office within five days of being elected by the National Assembly – and thereafter appoint a Cabinet and assign its powers and functions.
President Cyril Ramaphosa is emphatic that the new executive must possess requisite skills, experience, representivity and a commitment to the public services that will take the work of the 6th administration forward.
Three vehicle crash, two killed on scene.
Two passengers were declared dead on scene and fifteen others hospitalised this morning after three vehicles were involved in crash at N12 freeway, Snake road off Benoni, Ekurhuleni.
City of Ekurhuleni Disaster and Emergency Management Services (DEMS) rescue team from Rynfield fire station, responded swiftly to the scene after receiving the call around 07:30 this morning.
On arrival, a water tanker truck with a driver only, Hatchback light motor vehicle with two occupants and a minibus taxi with seventeen occupants, driver inclusive, were involved in a crash.
A taxi was found lying on its side with multiple patients still trapped inside. Specialised rescue tools had to be used to free the trapped patients from the wreckage prior transportation to medical facilities.
Two patients from the taxi were declared dead on scene by paramedics, seventeen others from all three vehicles were transported to nearby medical facilities by various ambulance services for further medical care.
Snake road in both directions had to be closed for traffic for the duration of the operation till 12:15 when it was reopened again.
The cause of the crash is undetermined and still under investigations by City of Ekurhuleni Traffic Officers.
