WoF in the Eas tern Cape joined the national celebrations on IDDR in the Chris Hani Municipality which was hosted by the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs. Minister for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Pravin Gordhan, was the keynote speaker.

The event was attended by different schools around the Chris Hani Municipality, the local famers, the community members as well as the different stakeholders.

At the WoF Exhibition stand many people were given information on how fires can end up being disasters and how they can be prevented and also how to fight such fires.

In his speech Minister Pravin Gordhan said that the key factor when disasters happened is a quick response so that the community can be assisted in time.

When he visited the WoF exhibition stand Minsiter Gordhan gave a compliment to the participants about their fitness which showed how Working on Fire participants keeps themselves fit to fight fires in the province.

The event also looked at different types of disasters, which included man made, natural disasters, and how some of these can be prevented. “We will implement risk assessments and also promote maintenance of critical infrastructure within the strategies put in place to deal with disaster reduction,” explained Gordhan.

Eastern Cape Cooperative Governance MEC, Fikile Xasa, said there are ways South Africa can use its indigenous and traditional knowledge to strengthen the existing disaster risk reduction mechanisms.

Communities are urged to pay attention to their surroundings, as the behaviour of animals often indicate a change in weather.