Cape Town - Guy Fawkes celebrations in Cape Town turned to anguish for some families on Thursday night when 10 children and six adults suffered injuries to their hands or eyes as a result of firework accidents.
Mayco member for safety and security JP Smith said 16 injuries were reported. Ten children and six adults sustained various injuries, mostly to their hands.
Emergency Medical Services (EMS) spokesman Robert Daniels said EMS dealt with four cases of Guy Fawkes-related firework injuries on Thursday night.
“Two adult males and two male children suffered serious injuries to their hands, they were rushed to hospital.”
A small group of people also suffered injuries to their eyes when fireworks got out of control in a parking lot in Strandfontein.
Wetlands in Rietvlei in the Table Bay Nature Reserve were apparently set alight by a Chinese lantern on Thursday night and the fire was still burning on Friday morning, so penguins and other wildlife in the area had to be evacuated.
Smith said: “City fire and rescue worked through the night to combat fire among the reeds at Rietvlei. The apparent cause of fire could be a Chinese lantern - a senior officer was en route this morning to reassess the situation.
“Further firefighting resources have been requested and are currently on scene.”
Council fire and rescue spokeswoman Liezel Moodie said staff responded to the wetlands fire in Blaauwberg after midnight.
“A large area of reeds had been burning, and it was threatening to spread. It carried on right through the night, and Sanccob (Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds) is in the process of evacuating animals.”
Every year there are reports of animals being affected by the celebrations.
The SPCA’s Wanika Davids said: “Two animals were fatally hit by cars, we have seven stray animals and there has been a number of people reporting their animals have gone missing since last night.
“The strays are in good condition which shows they have homes but got lost after the whole firecracker celebrations, and we are expecting more.”
Davids said the SPCA still wants a ban on firecrackers, with the effects of Guy Fawkes lasting for weeks after the event every year.
Police monitored 12 sites for fireworks on Thursday night and R19 000 worth of fireworks were confiscated from a shop in Hout Bay because it had no relevant permits.
Meanwhile, on Thursday the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) responded to reports that many schools stood empty as pranksters terrorised neighbourhoods on Guy Fawkes Day.
A Cape Argus photographer spotted pupils in Woodlands, Mitchells Plain, running around, throwing paint at each other. Some were spotted attempting to scale a fence at Woodlands High School.
A resident, who did not want to be named, said taxis and buses refused to travel deep into communities where paint was being smeared, opting instead to drop commuters off outside their suburbs.
She feared having to walk from the drop-off point through the area to reach her home. She said taxi drivers were more concerned about their vehicles being smeared with paint and damaged than with the safety of commuters.
The disruption of classes happened even after the WCED called for extra police and law enforcement visibility in areas deemed to be high risk. Panicked parents opted to keep their children at home fearing that they would become victims of Guy Fawkes pranksters.
Jessica Shelver, spokeswoman for Western Cape Education MEC Debbie Schäfer, said schools in the metro north education district had reported attendance levels of below 30 percent.
“In metro south our district director reported very low attendance rates and it was reported to various schools that learners were out on the streets with plastic bags over their hands and carrying paint cans.”
She said some parents, mainly in Parkwood, had asked schools for assistance to help get their children to school.
Beacon View Primary School, in Mitchells Plain, told the Cape Argus that the school was “almost empty”, with between six and eight pupils in some classrooms.
Bishop Lavis High indicated that only its matric pupils were present, while Parkfields Primary, in Hanover Park, indicated that about 60 percent of its pupils were absent.
This week Schäfer indicated that the WCED had asked the police and law enforcement to be visible in areas where Guy Fawkes activities had taken place in the past.
She also urged parents to ensure their children attended school on Guy Fawkes day and to dissuade them from participating in activities that could disrupt schooling.
Shelver said on Thursday: “It is unfortunate that parents had to keep their children at home because of these activities. Every school day lost is one too many.”
By late afternoon Shelver said there had been no reports of matric candidates being affected by the activities. They wrote English exams on Thursday morning and economics on Thursday afternoon.
Last year, the Cape Argus reported that a pupil, who was believed to have become disorientated after being smeared with paint, had been hit by a car and had to be admitted to hospital.
Cape Argus