The City of Cape Town’s Mayco Member for Safety and Security, JP Smith lambasted the community of Belhar after brand new, state of the art fire engines were attacked and damaged by young people.
According to Smith the City recently purchased some new, state-of-the-art fire engines to upgrade some of the Major Pumpers across the fleet. Belhar was one of these fire stations that received one.
Stone attack
“Sadly, while responding to an incident some time back, the crew came under attack by stone throwing and the front windshield was severely damaged. Legislation requires that strict procurement measures must now be followed with the original supplier who currently holds the warranty. The windshield needs to be ordered for the specific chassis-cab configuration; and if not a standard item, this must be custom made then shipped to the local supplier, who can then only complete the fitment after receiving the imported item. This process takes anything from 5 to12 months.
“Attacking our frontline staff is not ‘simple mischief.’ It’s an attack on our communities. Organised crime and the gangs that consumed the construction industry have studied the legislation, looking to exploit loopholes as was seen when they attempted to infiltrate housing tenders in Cape Town. Youth hurling stones at emergency responders are not just being naughty. They are following orders from an organised crime hierarchy far above those affected in these communities,” says Smith.
He says the actions of the youngsters are action is more than an attempt to incapacitate the ability to respond to emergency incidents. “It’s meant to create hostility against those able to help. It’s intended to strike fear into the hearts of first responders so that they get discouraged from coming into these communities, turning them into no man’s land. It’s part of a plan to ensure the only help available comes from those who terrorise these communities with fear, or only once they have approved.
Numbers gang
“The incident in Belhar occurred in an area that has been held under the grip of the numbers gang for far too long. While the territory is fiercely contested between the Americans, the Mongrels, the Sexy Boys and the Hard Livings, remember- when there is a shooting and someone is lying injured on the street, we don’t first ask which gang is he affiliated to? Everyone has the right to life and we respond all the same. This fire engine that was damaged, it was immediately replaced with one of our spares- we have 40 Major Pumpers in our reserve fleet. But it doesn’t have to be this way ,” says Smith.
He urged anyone who knows of people attacking fire engines to report it anonymously by calling 0800 11 00 77.
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