Political short-sightedness briefly reared its ugly head in Johannesburg on Thursday afternoon when two separate press conferences were held to brief the public about the latest on the CBD explosion that claimed one life and left 48 people injured.
Not long after Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi had addressed a press conference on the latest about the mysterious incident, a couple of councillors from the city’s coalition government held their own briefing where they didn’t only cover the same ground but even suggested that the premier was upstaging the provincial leadership.
It was all unseemly, especially as frightened residents were still looking for answers as to what caused the explosion and whether it was safe to return to their homes, places of work and businesses in the busy city centre.
While we all accept that the upcoming general elections and that no single party can claim to have majority support in Johannesburg and Gauteng make the city and province prone to political jockeying and opportunistic point-scoring, Wednesday evening’s tragedy is too serious to be turned into a political game.
The city and the province had started well, co-ordinating their response efforts and jointly working round the clock to identify the cause of the explosion and assist those directly affected. They should not be tempted by political short-termism to start squabbling.
It is therefore crucial that all hands are on deck to eliminate all the possible scenarios, identify the source and assess if there is further danger ahead.
There is still much work to be done and the mission will not be successful unless there is co-operation between the two tiers of government, the private sector and the affected communities.
Most of the energy should be expended on identifying the cause of the explosion, especially given that the initial speculation that it may have resulted from a faulty Egoli Gas pipe is increasingly seeming unlikely.
Without knowing the cause, anxiety will increase in the city and surrounding areas about a possible repeat of the incident possibly with more devastating consequences. It is therefore crucial that all hands are on deck to eliminate all the possible scenarios, identify the source and assess if there is further danger ahead.
Numerous video clips of the explosion show just how incredible it is that not more people were maimed and killed. That the incident happened under the road, and not the residential buildings and shops, probably saved many lives.
For that we should be grateful, even though we would have preferred that not a single life was lost.
The incident has once again highlighted weaknesses in our handling of disasters like this one. Even though the police and emergency services responded quickly to the news, it was concerning to see bystanders roaming around the scene on the night of the incident and the morning after, even when no-one was certain whether it was safe to do so.
Given last December’s tragic gas tanker explosion in Boksburg, where many lives were lost due to lapses in crowd control by authorities, you’d think that those in charge of the scene would have prioritised clearing Lilian Ngoyi Street and others affected, especially at the time when some were complaining about what they believed to be the smell of gas.
But even without being prompted to by the police and other officials, citizens should also make it a habit to stay away from such scenes, especially soon after an accident has happened.
No social media video or selfie is worth risking one’s life.
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