Cape Town: The Runway fires dominate safety and security efforts made by the city firefighters. The firefighters responded to more than 200 fires over the long weekend, which was supported by the rest of the Safety and Security Directorate.
The fire that began in Tokai on Friday evening reared its head again in the early hours of Sunday, and has kept the fire services across a number of agencies very busy, which was supported by the enforcement services and the Disaster Risk Management Centre.
More than 100 city firefighters remained on frontline in Tokai and its surroundings. However, the rest of the service ensured that the 32 fire stations were manned and ready to respond to the incidents. Over the long weekend, they responded to 357 incidents, including 214 fires.
Considering this, Member of the Mayoral Committee for Safety and Security – Alderman JP Smith said that the Tokai fire has been a challenge for the past few days. they want to commend everyone who had a hand in working to contain it.
While we had some precautionary evacuations on Sunday, the dedication of all these crews’ kept lives and property safe. They are much concerned about how the fire began and then reignited after being subdued, the firefighters have been holding the line with aplomb.
Smith further stated that the magnitude of the incident reminds them once more of the threat of fire in the city, as why it is so critical to keep investing in the Fire and Rescue Service. That’s why they have proposed just over R17 million to further increase the staffing and resources for the service in the draft budget.
In general, the enforcement efforts in the past few weeks, Law Enforcement officers made 181 arrests for a variety of offences including the possession of drugs, ammunition and dangerous weapons. This also issued 7683 notices.
The Metro Police officers arrested 50 people and confiscated two zip guns, a revolver and a number of drugs which included Mandrax tablets and tik. Cape Town Traffic Services held integrated roadblocks, vehicle checkpoints and speed control operations this past week and recorded 21,219 speeding offences and issued 20, 392 fines for various traffic violations.
In total, 227 public transport vehicles were impounded and 1452 warrants of arrest were executed. The officers made 24 arrests which included 15 for driving under the influence of alcohol, four for reckless and negligent driving and five for various other offences.
The Public Emergency Communication Centre (PECC) received 2385 calls, out of which 972 were for medical assistance, 140 incidents of assault and 61 vehicle accidents.