Cape Town: A major boost was seen on the cards for Safety and Security, as the next budget cycle approaches, the Safety and Security Directorate of the City of Cape Town that has pencilled in a number of exciting yet critical initiatives to boost its public safety efforts for every ward in the town.
Reportedly, it included additional resourcing for the Fire and Rescue Service and the Public Emergency Communication Centre. The budget by Directorate has prioritised its vehicle, equipment and tech rollout in recent years, along with the acquisition of various tools to improve situational awareness, gathering of evidence as well as aerial monitoring and surveillance.
This rollout will continue focusing on the 2025-26 financial year that aims to get a count of initiatives off the ground, which would put more boots on the ground, with a budget allocation of at least R94 million.
Member of the Mayoral Committee for Safety and Security – Alderman JP Smith said that the Safety and Security Directorate desires to expand the gains and advantages through the Law Enforcement Advancement Programme (LEAP) to the rest of the city.
“We have submitted a bold proposal that would see a number of dedicated Metro Police officers deployed to every ward in Cape Town. However, the deployment would not match the levels of LEAP, as it would still make a meaningful impact and will make sure that every community has officers dedicated to their neighbourhood,” added Smith.
Another critical budget proposal involves increased staffing and resources for the Fire and Rescue Services that will amount R17.2 million and an additional R3.6 million to the Public Emergency Communication Centre to increase its capacity.
Considering more people moving to Cape Town every year and housing areas expanding, vegetation fires within the increased boundaries of the City of Cape Town from 8,462 in the 2019-20 financial year to 12,072 in the 2023-24 financial year, while the structural fires increased from 3,866 to 4,755 over the same period.
Alderman JP Smith added further to his statement that a lot has changed in Cape Town in terms of public safety. There is far greater strain on the emergency services due to increased urbanisation and climate change, yet the challenges at the 10111 call centre also resulted in an increase in calls for assistance to the emergency call centre.
Notably, the call centre is the primary point of contact with the City of Cape Town in an emergency and it must be able to answer and assist the help seekers immediately. The Directorate is fairly well equipped but there is a need to ensure that the resources keep pace with the growing city and the needs of the residents.
As per JP Smith, it goes beyond additional staff, the appointees then need uniforms, equipment, vehicles and so forth, as well as additional support or administrative staff and services.
“We are also pitching for a R5 million investment into additional resourcing for the Events Department. This will help in boosting the potential economic opportunities from additional events, so that they are able to add to the annual calendar, and also to the ever-growing film industry,” said Smith.
He added further that, these industries are making immense contributions to the local economy. The top eight events contribute over R4.5 billion to the economy of the city and the many different industries and jobs that support events.