Residents and fire prevention authorities are concerned that multiple firebreaks in the Cape Peninsula on City of Cape Town and privately owned land were not maintained before the start of the 2023/24 fire season in the Western Cape.
The City of Cape Town has been criticised for allegedly not maintaining numerous firebreaks within the Cape Peninsula before the start of the devastating 2023/24 fire season in the Western Cape.
This comes after the City of Cape Town last year withdrew from a long-standing agreement with SANParks to maintain the peninsula's firebreak network.
Failure to maintain firebreaks poses significant risks, as demonstrated by recent Western Cape wildfires destroying homes.
Fire prevention authorities said not completing all of the firebreaks in the network puts the city and its residents at risk.
On Monday, firefighters fought to contain an inferno on Trappieskop in Kalk Bay, Cape Town, in which one house burnt down and another was damaged.
Read our coverage of the Western Cape wildfires:
- Part 1: Taking stock -- staggering scale of Western Cape wildfires as fire season continues to rage
- Part 2: Crucial lessons for future preparedness from the Western Cape fire season
Firebreaks have long been a feature of the Cape Peninsula landscape, with most firebreaks in the region located on the wildland-urban interface -- the transition zone between wildlands and human settlements.
According to Section 12 of the National Veld and Forest Fire Act,...
