City prepares for possible disruptions in its Fire Service 

30 September 2019

The City of Cape Town’s Fire and Rescue Service has put in place contingency plans in the event that firefighters affiliated to the South African Municipal Workers Union proceed with their threat to stop working their standby hours.

The union has, in recent weeks, issued a series of statements, falsely claiming that they are not paid for overtime work.

The City of Cape Town has since clarified the matter, in a statement on 26 September 2019 which is available here.

The City has an overall firefighting staff complement of 900+. At any given time, there is a minimum of 240 firefighters on duty at the 30 fire stations across the metropole.

In terms of union membership, approximately 60% of staff are affiliated to SAMWU.

The minimum resource requirement for a fire station is one fire engine and a maximum of six staff members.

Critical fire stations have already been identified where a minimum level of service will still be available to the City.

Should SAMWU members refuse to work the standby hours, the Fire and Rescue Service will:

- Redeploy staff on duty to critical fire stations where any staff shortages may occur

- Call on dayshift staff on the standby roster to man critical appliances (vehicles)

- Call on staff on their rest days to make up any staffing shortfall

- Call on assistance from neighbouring municipalities in terms of a standing agreement, in the event of major incidents

In addition, the Fire and Rescue Service will initiate disciplinary steps against any employee who refuses to work the standby hours, as they would be in contravention of their current conditions of service.

Furthermore, there have been threats of intimidation and staff on the receiving end of such threats have been encouraged to report these incidents, so that they can be investigated and action taken against the responsible parties.

The City of Cape Town remains committed to resolving the ongoing dispute with SAMWU but also honouring its service delivery mandate.

Issue by Richard Bosman, Executive Director for Safety and Security, City of Cape Town, 30 September 2019