Entire Document - Chris Hani District Municipality

critical areas.
2.4.4.5 INCIDENTS OCCURRED DURING THE PERIOD UNDER REVIEW
As noted above there were no major incidents during the period under review except for the snow that always affects
motorists in the Nico Malan Pass, Barkly Pass and Penhoek Pass.
On the afternoon of the 25 June 2009 snow fell heavily at Penhoek Pass causing difficulty for traffic to move freely
and safely.
In the afternoon of the same date a tanker carrying hazardous material travelling towards Queenstown and a big
truck (horse and trailer) travelling towards Jamestown jack-knifed because of the snow and blocked both lanes
causing a serious traffic jam.
The queue of vehicles heading to and from Jamestown continued to grow although the road was closed. People
forcefully went to the closed point in desperation and that congested the road even more seriously making it
impossible to attempt to turn on both sides of the crash site.
There were a number of big trucks, buses, minibuses and small vehicles stuck on the pass. Our officials worked
tirelessly trying to assist the motorists and provide relief where possible.
A City-to-City bus travelling from Queenstown and many other trucks and other vehicles crammed the road through
the night.
People stuck on the road were in dire need of water and an ablution system. That forced us as Disaster Management
to hire 6 minibus taxis to cart the bus commuters to the Disaster Management Centre where they would have access
to toilets and be served hot tea, soup and be catered for.
When the snow melted and the road opened the bus came back to Queenstown to pick up its passengers up and
continued its journey.
COSTS OF THE INCIDENT
The costs incurred in assisting the people stuck on the snow amounted to R16 200 including transport and catering.
2.4.4.6 PREVENTION OF DISASTERS
Education and Awareness
We have a programme of Education and Awareness that we conduct in wards and at schools. This is one of our
most successful programmes enabling us to interact with our communities to teach them about disasters and
disaster management.
We have already covered the following municipalities:
• Engcobo
• Emalahleni
• Intsika Yethu
• Sakhisizwe
• Tsolwana and
• Inxuba Yethemba
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