CAPE TOWN: The City of Cape Town has condemned the attacks on its firefighters, after three vehicles were stoned in less than 24 hours at the weekend.
Mayoral committee member for safety and security Alderman JP Smith, said it has been a calm period, however, it appears firefighters are again being targeted by the very people they are trained and deployed to assist.
He said on Saturday, just before 9am, firefighters from Gugulethu withdrew from a motor vehicle accident scene along Oliver Tambo Avenue, in Manenberg, when the crowd became volatile and stoned their vehicle, resulting in damage to the windscreen and passenger side window.
The second incident occurred just after 11pm, when pedestrians stoned one of the vehicles from Wynberg, that was close to the Gugulethu Fire Station.
Smith said, again, the windscreen and passenger side window was damaged.
On Sunday, just before 1am, community members stoned firefighters as they responded to a fire, where informal structures were alight in Isikhova Street, in Mfuleni.
“One can’t be sure what the motivation is, but I want to reiterate to the public that attacking our emergency services staff is not the answer. In fact, all that will happen is that staff will be forced to wait for an enforcement escort before responding, which will slow down reaction times and put lives and property at unnecessary risk,” Smith said.
During enforcement operations, City of Cape Town enforcement agencies arrested 207 suspects and issued 61 963 fines for various transgressions in the past week.
Traffic service officials arrested 77 suspects, impounded 90 vehicles, confiscated 99 cell phones, and issued 56 045 fines.
Of those arrested, 51 suspects were charged with driving under the influence of alcohol.
Law Enforcement arrested 79 suspects and issued 3 922 notices, while metro police arrested 51 suspects and issued 1 996 fines over the past week.