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This week, I received a briefing at the Provincial Disaster Management Centre detailing the province’s extensive preparations in place to ensure that we remain on the front foot in preventing fires at the Western Cape Government’s facilities.

During the briefing, it was highlighted that the Western Cape Government has provided aerial support since 2011 to Municipalities, totalling R125 million through its ‘annual integrated wildfire support programme’. The programme also includes specialised ground support teams which are protecting our communities in the event of fires.

I was joined at the briefing by the Minister of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning, Anton Bredell, the Minister of Transport and Public Works, Daylin Mitchell, the Minister of Community Safety, Albert Fritz, the Director-General of the Western Cape, Harry Malila, and the respective Heads of Department.

During the briefing, we further unpacked the findings of the Fire Service Capacity Assessment conducted in 2014 and some of the challenges highlighted. We were also informed of the Provincial Government’s comprehensive measures in place to reduce the risk associated with fires.

In addition to the allocation towards aerial support, the Western Cape Government’s comprehensive measures in place to prevent and fight fires in the province include:

• An allocation of R41.134 million to municipalities for 60 firefighting vehicles between 2016 to date through the allocation of Fire Service Capacity Building Conditional grants.
• A provincial contribution of R3 million has been made to Stellenbosch Municipality for an aerial fire-fighting appliance.
• On integrated wildfire management, we have a special operations response, which includes an ‘Urban Search and Rescue Team’ with 130 trained USAR technicians and a Hazardous Materials Response System which consists of a District Response System and two units provided to Central Karoo.
• We have installed more than 10 000 smoke alarms in informal dwellings through the smoke alarms programme. This has decreased fire-related deaths by approximately 90% in areas with installed smoke alarms.
• The Western Cape Disaster Management Centre have three active United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination members who have received international training in terms of responding to disasters.

The Provincial Government is providing a Fire and Rescue training programme. This has ensured that 90% of municipal firefighters outside of the Metro have received training in mandatory fire qualification since 2016. Training has also been provided to a total of 105 members in specialist Hazardous Materials Response in 2021 and 20 Technical Rescuers are being trained a year.

The programme further includes fire safety training and is provided to all municipalities, which includes a five (5) module fire prevention and safety programme consisting of:

• Fire Risk Assessment;
• Fundamentals of Building Construction and Design;
• Building Plan and Rational Design scrutinization;
• By-law application and Fire Investigation; and
• Fire investigation.

Going forward, we plan to empower District Fire Services in developing training academies as we have in the Overberg district.

We also have in place seasonal fire awareness campaigns, a pre-fire planning system, specialised capacity building, fire prevention officer capacity building and a Fire Service Area Assessment Tool.

Speaking on the briefing yesterday, the Minister of Environmental Affairs and Developmental Planning, Anton Bredell, said: “As we are in the midst of the fire season, December to April, our Disaster Management team is ready to respond with speed to any wildfires which may occur. We take this very seriously, and it is reflected in our spending of over R125m since 2011 to combat fires in the province. But as with many things in life, prevention is always better than cure, so we urge the public to be responsible with open fires, and to report any fire sightings to the closest authorities as quickly as possible.”

While I am pleased with the measures put in place at a provincial level to prevent and respond to fires, I call on residents to further play their part as we are still in the fire season. We each have a responsibility to prevent fires and save lives.

So please, whether you are a business owner, NGO, government official, or resident – ensure that your fire alarms, fire doors, and fire extinguishers are in working order. Should you not have one, ensure that you have proper protocols in place to evacuate your facility should a fire occur.

Most importantly, please familiarize yourselves with the contact details of your local fire station and report any incidents immediately. For more information on how to prevent or report a fire, please visit: https://www.westerncape.gov.za/general-publication/wildfire-season?toc_page=4

Issued by Western Cape Provincial Government