Bridge the Gap
I got to experience the Ekurhuleni emergency services first hand. I received a call around 03:00 Sunday morning from a neighbour requesting my help to contact the Ekurhuleni fire brigade.
Emergency Number : 907 1111
As councilors we are regularly bombarded with negative complaints and discussions that I try to be positive and give positive input where ever I go.
Questions such as what will happen when I need Ekurhuleni in case of an emergency is always met with a positive response from me. I respond positively even though I have rarely ever had the opportunity to test this in practice.
I have never thought what will happen if someone’s house would burn down, but I have always believed that in a case of Emergency the fire brigade and emergency services teams will be there for the public. I had the unfortunate opportunity to test this hypothesis over the past weekend.
I say unfortunate because a neighbour lost his house due to a devastating fire, but I got to experience the Ekurhuleni emergency services first hand. I received a call around 3am Sunday morning from a neighbor requesting my help to contact the Ekurhuleni fire brigade. I can admit that at 03:00 I am rather disorientated and to my surprise I did not have the number I needed for the Alberton Fire Station.
I had several numbers for emergency services call center but no one could help me in the situation. I was left embarrassed and desperate to provide help. I called a senior official, Francois Kruger at Ekurhuleni disaster management that immediately provided the number 907 1111 and assisted me in contacting the Alberton fire brigade.
Within six minutes the first Ekurhuleni fire truck arrived to help. Other Ekurhuleni fire and emergency vehicles came just a few minutes later. The service and professionalism of the Alberton Fire and Emergency unit is commendable and I am proud to be associated with them.
The team led by fireman Grant delivered world-class service in extinguishing the fire. I could have saved valuable time if I only had the fire brigade number on my cell phone. I have to humbly thank Francois Kruger for taking my call at 03:00 and assisting me with emergency service delivery. This was such amazing support that I can truly say the management and staff of Ekurhuleni emergency services are world class.
We may differ in varied degrees about the level and quality of service we receive from Ekurhuleni but I can assure residents the emergency services are there when you need them. I would encourage all residents to save this number 907 1111 to bridge the gap when you have an emergency. Diamond.Neil@ekurhuleni.gov.za.
