News24 reports that plans have been put in place for the protection of firefighters following a violent attack on 14 crew members in Kraaifontein, Cape Town, this past weekend.
The increase in attacks on City staff members was highlighted during a briefing on law enforcement statistics on Monday. Chief Fire Officer Ian Schnetler reported that a female firefighter had suffered a hairline fracture to her arm after she was hit with a spade and wrestled to the ground by "young" members of the community in an incident. "We are communicating with metro police and SAPS [South African Police Service] for protection, as firefighters are unarmed. Unfortunately we can't cater for every eventuality. This makes it very difficult for us to protect communities who need help," he said. Firefighters would now make use of body cameras and protective smash and grab film would be fitted to fire vehicles. Metro Police Chief Wayne Le Roux said that efforts to ensure the safety of metro police were also in the works. "They will no longer patrol on their own, and staff will double-up instead. This means that we can only respond to half of the public's complaints," he indicated.
- Read this report by Christina Pitt in full at News24
- Read too, Firefighting crews attacked in separate incidents in Cape Town, at EWN
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page