Imizamo Yethu residents raise alarm over emergency access for fire services
Imizamo Yethu has seen two major fires in the space of a month, resulting in hundreds of people being displaced.
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Imizamo Yethu residents have raised concerns around the limited access routes for emergency vehicles, particularly fire trucks, which impact their response times during emergencies.
The community, which has experienced several devastating fires recently, finds that service roads are either too narrow or obstructed, leading to challenges for firefighting efforts.
Isaac Khumalo saw his home go up in flames last week and said that despite residents battling the blaze, help was needed and only arrived after struggling to access the area.
"Many of us stood and watched, but the fire trucks could not get in. There were firefighters arriving on foot to see the damage and told the people that the fire trucks could not come closer to the fire," he said.
Khumalo admitted that the City of Cape Town was not entirely to blame, as residents often block the roads meant for fire trucks and other emergency services.
"You will often find people dumping in the roads, or they will use it to park their vehicles, but this is not only the City's fault. The people of IY must also take responsibility," Khumalo said.
Residents claim there are not enough emergency access routes for emergency services to gain quick access to the area to tackle fires or attend to other emergency concerns in the community.
Image: Supplied
Community leader Kenny Tokwe said there are roads dedicated for emergency services to enter, but they were not ideal, and fire trucks struggled to enter the area.
"We have raised this concern with the City, because there are roads around the settlement and sometimes these roads are blocked or not wide enough for the trucks, which makes it difficult for the firefighters to do their job," Tokwe said.
He explained that they plan to revisit the issue and discuss this matter with the City.
"These are important issues, and we need to get this right because it's affecting the community and preventing help from entering the area, especially when these fires break out," Tokwe said.
Ward councillor Roberto Quintas highlighted recent developments aimed at improving access.
“An entire new road was constructed around the top of Imizamo Yethu at the end of the last term, and this has enabled us to better facilitate access for all service vehicles, enhancing solid waste removal and the installation of electricity and other vital services.”
The newly constructed ring road at the top of Molokoane, connecting the Dontse Yakhe area to Silikamva, he said, is one such effort by the City of Cape Town to alleviate the access issues.
However, Quintas noted that more needs to be done, particularly in areas where main routes, such as Nelson Mandela and OR Tambo, intersect and run through Imizamo Yethu.
Despite these improvements, the community remains challenged by frequent incidents that obstruct emergency access.
“Time and time again, we see delays caused by illegally parked vehicles,” Quintas said.
He stressed that these obstructions could lead to disastrous outcomes when every second counts during a firefighting mission.
“This is why we now only deploy fire services to the area with an accompanying law enforcement presence or SAPS,” he said.