Pretoria - While South Africa has among some of the strictest laws in the world governing the safety of paraffin stoves, sub-standard paraffin stoves continue to cause harm in poor communities.
“Many households in South Africa use paraffin stoves every day. South Africa has some of the strictest laws in the world governing the safety of these stoves, but sub-standard stoves continue causing fires that result in tragic injury to people and destruction in neighbourhoods, year after year,” said Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies on Wednesday.
The Minister was speaking at the Safe Paraffin Appliance Campaign in Theunissen, in the Free State.
Thousands of households use paraffin for cooking, heating or lighting.
The use of poor quality paraffin stoves can lead to fires which result in the loss of belongings and homes.
“We believe these households deserve high quality, safe stoves to help solve the problem of fire danger,” said Minister Davies.
All paraffin stoves and heaters made and sold in South Africa should be in line with standards set out by the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) and also comply with the National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications (NRCS).
The Minister said it is against the law to sell paraffin stoves and heaters that do not meet these standards.
Government is watching manufacturers and distributors of unsafe paraffin products and when they are arrested, they will be prosecuted.
During the campaign, Minister Davies handed out 1500 safe paraffin stoves to residents in exchange for their old ones. He encouraged them to report people who distribute unsafe stoves to the police or the NCRS.
Alfonsina Mphore, a resident of Masilo in Theunissen, said she was excited about the new stove provided by Minister Davies.
“These stoves will save our lives and our belongings as old ones were not safe and put our lives in danger,” said the 60-year-old. – SAnews.gov.za
