Pretoria – Cabinet has commended the bravery, commitment, dedication and hard work of the men and women who have been working tirelessly to contain the devastating fires in Cape Town’s South Peninsula since Sunday.
Addressing media in Cape Town on Thursday, Minister for Performance, Monitoring and Evaluation in the Presidency Jeff Radebe said these men and women were commended for saving lives and preventing damage to property, livestock and prestigious natural environment.
He said the spirit of volunteerism displayed by the people who are assisting the victims of the fires was “enormous and encouraging”.
“Cabinet expresses its gratitude to the communities that, in the spirit of Ubuntu, partnered with government is setting up care centres to accommodate those who have been displaced,” said Minister Radebe.
He was briefing media on the ordinary Cabinet meeting held on Wednesday.
A total of 2 000 fire fighters have been working to put out the fires, including 150 from the Department of Environmental Affairs’ Working on Fire (WoF) programme, 50 from Volunteer Wildfires Services and 250 WoF fire fighters from other provinces.
Four helicopters, two water bombers, and one spotter plane have been up in the air since Sunday.
The fires, which may have been caused by a cigarette, are reportedly under control for the moment.
Fire fighters are monitoring and maintaining hotspot areas, which include Clovelly, Monkey Valley in Noordhoek and Eagle's Nest in Constantia. – SAnews.gov.za
