GOOD Statement by Roscoe Palm
GOOD City of Cape Town Councillor
5 November 2024
The City of Cape Town’s neglect of our firefighting services has reached a critical point, jeopardising the safety of both residents and the firefighters who bravely serve them.
According to whistleblowers, over 100 firefighters have left the service for better opportunities or retirement, which has left crucial gaps, with no efforts to replace these skilled workers.
This is particularly dangerous as Cape Town’s summer brings soaring temperatures and strong winds—the very conditions that fuel devastating fires.
In some stations, we are down to skeleton crews, with resources so limited that only a water tanker or bush tender can be deployed. This bare-bones staffing leaves our firefighters overextended, and the situation is worsened by the loss of experienced personnel.
Bush tenders and other auxiliary vehicles are not equipped to fight a house fire, as they lack the necessary equipment on board, such as breathing apparatus.
This means that firefighters will have to wait for assistance from another truck before an attempt is made to rescue people who may be trapped inside a building.
Not only is Cape Town’s Fire and Rescue department understaffed, but it is also under-equipped. Of the four new ladder trucks purchased by the City of Cape Town, only one is on run at any stage. The City has neither the expertise nor the manpower to run all four simultaneously. Each one costs around R20 million.
Meanwhile, three of the four fire engines procured by the City two years ago stand unmanned at the training centre. Each one cost R6.5 million. This is a problem that endangers the poor and the rich alike.
Firefighters recently battled one of the season’s first major blazes in Malibongwe, Du Noon.
Navigating informal settlements to battle fires requires not only skill and experience but also teamwork and bravery.
Wealthy suburbs such as Constantia only have the poorly equipped and undermanned bush tenders to serve these areas. Residents here and in other areas would have to wait for fire engines from as far away as Goodwood to arrive on the scene while property burns and lives are placed in danger.
There are also days when zero medical rescue vehicles are on run. These vehicles tend to a range of emergencies, including traffic accidents.
This neglect, led by MMC JP Smith, is placing our firefighters in an untenable position. MMC Smith is asking fewer firefighters to take on more responsibility, stretching them to the brink. While Cape Town is rightly proud of extraordinary firefighters like Baigum Abrahams, recently crowned the toughest woman firefighter in the country, they cannot shoulder this burden alone.
They need the full support and resources of the City of Cape Town, not more pressure. Without adequate support from the City, these firefighters are left to face mounting risks alone.
The City must urgently explain how it has allowed this situation to deteriorate and why these issues have been kept hidden from public view for so long.
Capetonians deserve to know what immediate plans the City has to address these staffing shortages, restore leadership to our stations, and prevent the disastrous consequences that could result from another neglected fire season.
The GOOD party will conduct oversight visits to every fire station in Cape Town. We will not let our city burn while JP Smith fiddles.
Media enquiries:
Roscoe Palm, GOOD: City of Cape Town Councillor
Cell: 073 540 0634
Email: roscoe_palm@outlook.com
Samantha Jackson, GOOD: Media Manager
Cell: 083 5509875
Email: samantha@forgood.org.za