WeeklySA_AdminFRANTIC:Guests evacuated from burning building gripe about poor fire emergency coordination
By Boitumelo Tshehle
Residents of Mahikeng watched in despair as a major hotel in their tiny town perished this week. On Wednesday, Mmabatho Palms hotel building caught fire leading to the closure of the 45-year-old facility which was the second oldest casino resort in Africa.
Global Tourism Legacy Networks chairma Charles Ndabeni said the hotel was one of iconic properties that residents could easily align themselves with. He said the hotel, together with Mahikeng airport, Bop recording studios, Leopard Park estate, were the landmarks and iconic assets of Mahikeng.
“Mmabatho Palms remains the anchor pillar of growth of the tourism industry Mahikeng and must be rebuilt and its preservation secured,” he said. Peermount CEO Nigel Atherton said it might take up to 12 months to rebuild it, adding that the damage was extensive. “It was a terrible day. It is terrible for Peermont, terrible for the property here and Mahikeng and the province,” Antherton.
“It’s the first casino in the country, its where the magic of our industry started. And today is absolutely tragic, we are heartbroken by what has happened,” he said. Sixty-four guests who had to be evacuated from the building on that day lost their belongings. Antherton promised to reimburse them. The establishment is the source of employment and part and parcel of the economic development of the province.
Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development Deputy Minister Rosemary Nokuzola Capa was one of the people who had to be escorted out of the flaming building.
She complained that there was no form of alert. “There was no siren, water sprinters, nothing of that nature and there was no one who was directing anyone towards the assembly point, but the confusion arose there,” she said. The facility was saved by fire brigades who responded to the call and arrived eight minutes later. Mahikeng local municipality’s spokesman Johnny Nkoane said they did what they had to do to control the fire, but were overwhelmed by the wind. He said the hotel called them at 3:47am and they arrived at 3:55am. “We did our level best. The entire building would have been burned down altogether. We managed to save some of parts of it,” he said.
While Mmabatho hotel was on fire, another big facility Christiana hospital also caught fire. Health department said a total of 18 patients were safely evacuated to neighbouring hospitals.
