Annually thousands of people lose their homes and possessions in the Western Cape as raging fires rip through rows of informal housing.
The Paraffin Safety Association of Southern Africa (Pasasa) blames illegal paraffin stoves that are flooding the South African market, in particular illegal models based on the “Panda” Wick Paraffin Stove.
The model was outlawed by proclamation in a Government Gazette in 2007 because it did not meet safety standards.
According to Pasasa, 63 percent of fires in informal homes were related to faulty stoves. But users said they did not have alternatives.
The association said the legal stoves had safety mechanisms that automatically extinguished them if they were knocked over. The paraffin in the stoves’ tanks would not reach a temperature at which it could explode.
Of the illegal paraffin stoves, Pasasa senior project manager Dehran Swart said: “There is a big challenge with these stoves, as they are cheaper than the approved ones. Their purchase places the safety of homes at a high risk of experiencing fires.
“They are usually sold informally from spaza shops and even directly off bakkies.”
Swart said among the reasons the stoves were deemed dangerous were their high emission of carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide, leakage when they fell over, a weak structural design and overheating of paraffin in reservoirs which could lead to an explosion.
According to Pasasa, the stoves are smuggled to South Africa through the Port Elizabeth and Durban harbours.
“It seems as if these stoves are smuggled in over the borders of SA, even in containers on ships where the contents of these are not correctly declared,” Swart said.
An investigation by the Cape Times discovered that several shops in the city were still selling the outlawed stoves.
Two shops in Khayelitsha Mall owned by Chinese nationals sold the stoves at R100. Two other shops, in Philippi, sold the illegal stoves at R70. The legal stoves go for R150.
Gen Home Furnitures at the Goal Mall in Philippi East sold both the legal and the illegal stoves. The shop owner, who did not want to be named, said: “These old stoves are dangerous, but they are very much in demand because they are affordable. People don’t want the new models because they are complicated. They say the old stoves are much easier to use because they have been using them for a long time.”
Residents at the Enkanini informal settlement in Khayelitsha who bought their stoves from the Chinese shops acknowledged that the paraffin stoves were hazardous, but said they had no alternative.
Enkanini resident Sisanda Mgeni said her shack was almost gutted after her paraffin stove burst into flames.
“You also can’t leave these stoves unattended because they can burst into flames from nowhere. If I had a choice, I wouldn’t use the paraffin stove because its not safe. It gives you problems before it’s even a month old, but we don’t have a choice because we don’t have electricity and gas is expensive,” said Mgeni.
Cape Town Fire and Rescue spokesman Theo Layne could not confirm that most shack fires last year were caused by paraffin stoves.
He said a variety of causes were to blame for shack fires in 2010. - Cape Times