Minister Fransman visits the Joint Operations Centre (JOC) to be briefed on extent of fire damage in Tokai area

Local Government and Housing Minister Marius Fransman paid his deepest sympathies to the residents of the Tokai/ Zwaanswyk area who lost their properties due to the veld fires which were fanned by the strong gale force winds. Minister Fransman also thanked the fire fighters and volunteers who spent hours averting what could have turned into a disaster.

"I want to pay my deepest sympathies to the owners of the houses and vehicles which were destroyed by the fires over the past 24 hours. It is with great regret that something like this has happened and we hope that those who suffered will be able to put their lives together again."

"I want to thank the volunteers who have worked overnight to avert what could have turned into a disaster. Your commitment and hard work is very encouraging to all of us. Thank you very much."

Since yesterday afternoon a veld and bush fire ran out of control from Muizenberg in the direction of Tokai Forest Reserve and Steenberg Golf Estates. All possible manpower, vehicles and equipment were immediately deployed to try and contain and where possible distinguish the fire. The strong gale force winds hampered all fire-fighting actions and also forced helicopters to stand down earlier than normal as

We had to revert to fighting the fire on the ground with all that we got and we successfully completed this task. The emergency services of Cape Town i.e. the Fire Department, Traffic, Municipal Police and Disaster Management has thrown in all on-duty personnel and when not enough, they called upon their off-duty personnel to assist.

Additional to these resources other institutions such as the Department of Water Affairs, Working on Fire teams and helicopters, National Parks, S.A. Navy, Provincial Emergency Management Services, South African Police Services, the South African Defence Force, (Navy and Airforce) as well as the City of Cape Town's other departments were deployed. This resulted in a total workforce of approximately 300 fire-fighting officials, 32 fire-fighting vehicles, 2 Working on Fire helicopters and 2 Airforce helicopters working together as a team.

The Command and Control of the City of Cape Town as well as the Provincial Government has once again shown to be effective. A forward command post was established as soon as joint operations was deemed necessary. Shortly thereafter top-management as well as politicians came together and worked throughout the night to manage ground operations.

Most important in this whole event is the selfless co-operation of our Western Cape citizens who co-operated with emergency services in obeying media warnings and calls by relevant services not to use certain roads which were used by emergency vehicles and when it was deemed necessary to evacuate the houses to safer areas. This was made possible by our partners in the media who supported the joint operations of Emergency Services throughout the event and is still doing so.

For further information please contact Eric Ntabazalila at 021 483 4798/ 082 333 1015