Frustration is mounting among Somerset West residents in Bizweni Avenue and Rome Glen suburb as concerns over non-functional fire hydrants persist, raising serious questions about public safety.
Zahid Badroodien, Mayoral Committee member for Water and Sanitation, has attempted to address these concerns, but many residents felt these issues remained unresolved.
The matter came to light when residents reported a specific faulty hydrant when a house had burnt down in the area in 2022, only to find the service request closed without any apparent repairs.
“We reported the issue, expecting swift action, to be told that the service request was closed when the hydrant clearly wasn’t working is simply unacceptable,” said Cornelius Grobler.
Some months ago another fire devastated a home in the area, and again the closest fire hydrant was not working.
Badroodien explained the City of Cape Town’s position on the initial service request: “The City’s Water and Sanitation staff inspected the hydrant in question and no defects were detected.”
He further clarified council’s protocol, that it “responds to reports of faulty hydrants when reported”.
However, this response has done little to quell residents’ fears.
As if to add to the complexity of the issue, Badroodien provided possible explanations for the faulty hydrants. “Sometimes a fire hydrant may be open, ‘bleeding’ the system after burst-related repairs. There could have also been a water or vacuum tanker previously connected to fill its tank,” he related.
While these explanations offer potential reasons they do not address the core issue of ensuring all hydrants are reliably functional in case of emergencies.
Presented with a list of additional addresses where hydrants were reportedly malfunctioning, Badroodien stressed the need for precise information. “The City will need the reference numbers for all the additional addresses provided to provide accurate feedback.”
One of the most pressing questions from the community concerns the budget allocated for fire-hydrant maintenance and repairs.
“How can we be assured of our safety if we don’t know how much is being invested in maintaining these vital resources?” Grobler asked.
To this Badroodien responded: “The City’s operations and maintenance budgets are all-inclusive and separate figures are not available.”
The City also failed to answer questions related to the practice of marking of fire hydrants that are out of order.
In the interim, Jermaine Carelse, spokesperson for the City’s Fire and Rescue Service, confirmed that the service has informed the Fire Safety Section, Area East to clean the hydrants and mark the areas.
The City urged residents to report any suspected faulty fire hydrants, with specific address information and reference numbers, where applicable, to ensure timely investigations and resolutions.
Grobler maintained he has informed City officials of the faulty hydrants, so they should be aware of them.
“The City needs to take responsibility and ensure that emergency infrastructure is operational at all times. We, as the public, can only report physically-damaged equipment that is easily identifiable to the eye. The infrastructure is underground, and therefore it is their responsibility.”
