Mon séjour en Afrique du Sud (Cape Town)

Military personnel are engaged in major clean-up operations after underground fuel pipes burst at one of Pretoria’s biggest infantry bases.

It is believed that hundreds of tons of fuel may have spilled into the ground, polluting large sections of 43 Mechanised South African Infantry Brigade just outside the capital.

The leaks, according to the South African National Defence Force, were discovered on June 26.

Now Labour Department inspectors, conducting routine inspections at the base, have forced the base commander to shut down the fuel depot. The inspectors say they discovered gross violations of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

In a statement, the Labour Department said petrol and diesel had been leaking from underground pipes at the fuel depot.

The department said a prohibition notice barring any work at the fuel depot had been served on the defence force.

The notice has compelled the defence force to shut down the fuel depot until repairs and an environmental impact study have been completed.

Labour spokesperson Zolisa Sigabi said the department’s inspectorate also ordered an immediate disconnection of electricity supply to the fuel depot.

Apart from closing down the fuel depot, access to the base’s bathrooms had been stopped because of fumes from the fuel spillage.

“In terms of the prohibition notice, measures have to be taken to prevent further leakages. An environmental impact assessment on the spill must be submitted before the notice can be lifted,” she said.

Sigabi said: “We have an obligation and responsibility to enforce the law and to ensure the safety of all workers.

“Inspections are part of the department’s programme in terms of the OHS Act and are conducted to ensure that private and government organisations comply with South Africa’s occupational health and safety regulations,” she said.

Sigabi said the department’s inspectors would return to the base soon to see whether the defence force had complied with the prohibition order.

Questioned on how much fuel had spilled and the size of the area affected by the leak, SANDF spokesperson Colonel Petrus Motlhabane said he was unable to divulge either of these.

But he added that once the leak was discovered it was immediately reported to the relevant authorities and the polluted area identified and cordoned off.

Motlhabane said since the discovery of the leak the fuel pipes had been repaired.

“An external agency will be appointed by the Defence Department to assess the environmental impact posed by the leak. Once the assessment has been done the environmental rehabilitation of the polluted area will occur,” he said.

For safety reasons the affected infantry brigade was now using fuel facilities at a base in Wonderboom, he said.