The Department of Trade and Industry (the dti) and its regulatory agencies; the National Consumer Commission (NCC), and the National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications (NRCS) together with the National Disaster Management Centre (NDMC) and Sol Plaatje Local Municipality will roll out its safer paraffin stoves awareness campaign to Kimberley in the Northern Cape on Thursday November 17, 2016.

The dti is the custodian of key consumer and corporate regulation policy such as the Consumer Protection Act which bequeaths on South Africans eight fundamental consumer rights which businesses must uphold when they transact with consumers, and the National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications Act which forbids the sale of non-compliant products.

According to the Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr Rob Davies the campaign is aimed at educating poor and vulnerable consumers about the importance of using approved appliances that comply with quality and safety and to remove non-compliant appliances from communities in and around Kimberley that pose a risk to their safety and socio-economic wellbeing.

"Consumers must be aware of the laws that protect them, and should demand fair value, and good quality from retailers when they transact," asserts Davies.

"As part of this campaign I have instructed both the NCC and the NRCS to conduct inspections at retailers in Kimberley, to seize all appliances that do not comply with their respective legislation, and to destroy them," he added.

The partnership by the respective government organisations follows an initial winter safety campaign which was kick-started in June 2015 by the NRCS and the NCC, aimed at educating consumers about the importance of using approved appliances such as paraffin stoves and heaters to prevent shack fires which often result in loss of lives and property.

Distributed by APO on behalf of The Department of Trade and Industry, South Africa.