City honours its DRM Volunteers

02 December 2025

The 13th annual Disaster Risk Management Volunteer Awards ceremony took place this past weekend where Scottsdene’s volunteer unit clinched top honours.

Cape Town has more than 550 registered Disaster Risk Management volunteers – more than 80% are active and clocked just over 18 000 hours of service between July and September this year.

For the past 13 years, the Disaster Risk Management Centre has hosted an awards ceremony to acknowledge the efforts of volunteers in that particular year.

Among the categories are long service awards, certificates of appreciation, rookies of the year, unit of the year and volunteers with the highest number of hours logged.

The Scottsdene Volunteer Unit received the Unit of the Year award.

The adjudication included overall performance in a calendar year, including recruitment and training of new volunteers; availability for events and major incidents at short notice; keeping the unit’s administrative duties up to date; and assisting with emergency exercises, public awareness and disaster relief operations.

Gary Muller from the Milnerton Volunteer Unit was the longest serving member on the night, receiving an award for 35 years of volunteering.

A full list of recipients is available here: https://bit.ly/3MakEhK

‘The safety and security environment can feel like a never-ending lurch from one crisis to the next, so it’s always so incredibly special to spend a few hours with our dedicated volunteers, and to celebrate their achievements and contributions. Cape Town owes them a debt of gratitude for all they do to make our city safer. I want to express my thanks to them for their service and dedication, and for running towards the fires and floods and other public safety demands that Cape Town has to navigate annually,’ said Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security, Alderman JP Smith.

Caption 1: The Scottsdene Volunteer Unit
Caption 2: Volunteer, Gary Muller, received an award for 35 years of service

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Published by:
City of Cape Town, Media Office