Nature and outdoors

New firefighters join the ranks

The City of Cape Town’s Fire and Rescue Service officially welcomed 22 new recruits to the ranks recently at their graduation ceremony.

The City of Cape Town’s Fire and Rescue Service officially welcomed 22 new recruits to the ranks recently at their graduation ceremony.The learner firefighters successfully completed their prescribed introductory training. <figure class="subtopic-fullsize-img"> <img class="responsive" src="https://resource.capetown.gov.za/cityassets/Media%20Centre/fire%20graduation1.jpg" alt="" style="width:949px;" /> </figure> Their training programmes included Local Protocol Induction followed by Respiratory Protection and the Advanced First Responder medical qualification.They also completed International Fire Service Accreditation Congress (IFSAC) accredited courses that are aligned to the respective National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standards, being the international benchmarks for professional firefighters. Previously, the qualifications were only accessible via the South African Emergency Service Institute (SAESI). <figure class="subtopic-fullsize-img"> <img class="responsive" src="https://resource.capetown.gov.za/cityassets/Media%20Centre/fire%20graduation2.jpg" alt="" style="width:949px;" /> </figure>‘What is unique about this graduation is that these internationally recognised professional qualifications are now being issued directly by the City’s Fire and Rescue Training Academy. The academy is the first local government Fire Service Training institute to receive IFSAC recognised accreditation within the country. Apart from SAESI, there is only one other private training provider in South Africa that is recognised by IFSAC. It really is a remarkable achievement,’ said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security, Alderman JP Smith. The graduates were joined by 21 staff members who received their certificates for successfully completing the NFPA 1041 standard for Fire Service Instructor: Professional Qualifications at Fire Service Instructor 1 level. <figure class="subtopic-fullsize-img"> <img class="responsive" src="https://resource.capetown.gov.za/cityassets/Media%20Centre/fire%20graduation3.jpg" alt="" style="width:800px;" /> </figure>‘These Officers can now facilitate training for our more than 1 000 staff members in the Fire and Rescue Service, which means that more staff can benefit from skills development and continuation training programmes, but more importantly, internationally recognised qualifications. By doing this, we are investing in their career development and increasing the standard of service delivery to our communities,’ added Alderman Smith. End

2021-12-07T22:00:00Z

City advises of water supply disruption affecting Helderrand area in Somerset West

Careful consideration has been given to the planning of this work to ensure minimal disruption to the water supply in the affected area

Careful consideration has been given to the planning of this work to ensure minimal disruption to the water supply in the affected area. This work forms part of the City of Cape Town’s Water Demand Management Strategy. Installation of bulk meters helps identify unusual consumption patterns and helps target leak detection and maintenance programmes. Residents are advised to store water upfront in clean, sealed containers for domestic use during this period and to ensure that their taps are closed to avoid water loss and/or damage when the supply is restored. The City regrets any inconvenience caused. End

2021-12-07T22:00:00Z

Khayelitsha residents waste no time turning recyclables into opportunity

This programme, based in Makhaza, Khayelitsha, initially started in 2018 with 47 women and has developed and grown into a sustainable business.

This programme, based in Makhaza, Khayelitsha, initially started in 2018 with 47 women and has developed and grown into a sustainable business. The City’s role in the project was mainly to provide and facilitate training to the waste collectors on identifying items of value, and the general importance of recycling. Nedbank also assisted by providing a day’s finance management training. The City of Cape Town also provided skips to contain waste before selling to buy-back centres. <figure class="subtopic-fullsize-img"> <img class="responsive" src="https://resource.capetown.gov.za/cityassets/Media%20Centre/recycling11.jpg" alt="" style="width:635px;" /> </figure>To date, more than 57 000 kilograms of recyclables have been collected and sold to the Buy- Back Centre, generating an income for residents. How does this work?<ul><li><div style="text-align:left;">Reclaimers, ie residents in the community who collect recyclable waste, are scheduled to work five days a week. On collection days they sort through refuse that has been placed out for collection and set aside items that can be recycled. </div></li><li><div style="text-align:left;">They are equipped with 47 trolleys, scales to weigh the items on site and recycling bags. They have also received a bakkie from Waste Plan (a waste management and recycling service) to assist in their efforts to reduce waste in the recycling industry. </div></li><li><div style="text-align:left;">The collected recyclables are then sorted and stored on site, in three six-metre-long containers, provided by the City. </div></li><li><div style="text-align:left;">The waste is sold to the Buy Back Centre(BBC) in exchange for income.</div></li></ul> <figure class="subtopic-fullsize-img"> <img class="responsive" src="https://resource.capetown.gov.za/cityassets/Media%20Centre/recycling12.jpg" alt="" style="width:972px;" /> </figure>Project with purpose‘The objective of this project is to encourage communities to divert and separate waste at the source. This project is intended to create an enabling environment that can add value between communities, stakeholders and businesses.‘This exciting project demonstrates how the City and communities can make progress possible, together. It innovatively addresses key challenges of unemployment, and illegal dumping/environmental health.‘The 2020 National Waste Management Strategy for South Africa (NWMS) places a strong focus on informal collectors of recyclable waste, officially known as “waste pickers”. The Strategy tasks metros with initiating an integration programme and calls upon the packaging industry to implement schemes to integrate waste pickers, as set out in the Extended Producer Responsibility regulations gazetted in November last year. The Regulations set out explicit requirements for producers to integrate waste pickers into post-consumer collection value chain with serious consequences for those who fail to comply, including fines, imprisonment and/or loss of registration with the Department as per the regulations. Producers are required to co-operate with municipalities to increase the recovery of recyclables from municipal waste within three years of implementation of their extended producer responsibility scheme. <figure class="subtopic-fullsize-img"> <img class="responsive" src="https://resource.capetown.gov.za/cityassets/Media%20Centre/recycling13.jpg" alt="" style="width:613px;" /> </figure>‘This project represents a promising example of how the new strategy can work and benefit our communities through job creation and improved environmental health,’ said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Water and Waste, Councillor Zahid Badroodien. End

2021-12-07T22:00:00Z

Defeat of Section 25 amendment a victory for South Africans

The defeat of expropriation without compensation in Parliament yesterday is a victory for secure property rights

The defeat of expropriation without compensation in Parliament yesterday is a victory for secure property rights, which is the pre-requisite for economic growth and getting more people out of poverty. In Cape Town, we are committed to expanding property rights for more Capetonians, not seeing property ownership limited to a few. We want to see more Capetonians owning their own homes, and having secure tenure, not living as permanent insecure tenants of the state. This is real empowerment, and is one of the most powerful ways to break intergenerational poverty by helping people own real assets. But our commitment to more housing and expanding security of tenure requires a framework of secure legal property rights. That is why the defeat of the Section 25 expropriation amendment is a victory for all South Africans, and particularly the poor. Yesterday, MPs successfully voted to prevent the proposed amendment to Section 25. This amendment, had it passed, would have done irreparable harm to the economy. Even the destructive and unnecessary proposal of this amendment has harmed our economy significantly, and so has kept more people in poverty than would otherwise have been the case. Until recently, I was also an MP and was involved alongside my party colleagues in Parliament in the fight against this amendment. The rejection of this clause is a victory for our democracy and for the people of Cape Town, especially those poor residents who deserve much greater security of tenure.End

2021-12-07T22:00:00Z

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