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8 September 2023
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Swellendam Municipality building destroyed in fire due to riots
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The municipal head office in Swellendam in the Western Cape was torched while several other buildings and shops were looted as protesters went on the rampage on Wednesday, 16 August 2023. CFO Reinard Geldenhuys, chief fire officer, Overberg District Municipality, said, “On 16 August 2023 Overberg Fire Rescue and Disaster Management was activated to respond to protest action that turned violent in Swellendam.” All entrances and exits in and around the town were blocked, including the N2, the municipality said.
CFO Geldenhuys added, “After the area was cleared by SAPS, responders found the municipal offices on fire. Large parts of the building were fully involved and the priority was to try and save the records and server rooms. A drone was deployed to find the seats of the fires and a two-pronged interior attack backed by two medium pumpers and a tanker was launched to get to the server rooms. This tactic was successful and actions from the Fire Department managed to save the management offices and the server room.”
“Resources included two medium pumpers, one tanker from our Swellendam and Bredasdorp fire stations and additional skid units from Caledon Fire Station to cover the N2 etc. The Incident Command Unit was deployed for the whole of the three days” said Chief Geldenhuys.
“The protest actions carried on for the whole of Wednesday. Fire services were strategically deployed to be able to protect high risk installations like the Canola Factory and high value assets like department stores as well as other municipal infrastructure.
CFO Geldenhuys added, “After the area was cleared by SAPS, responders found the municipal offices on fire. Large parts of the building were fully involved and the priority was to try and save the records and server rooms. A drone was deployed to find the seats of the fires and a two-pronged interior attack backed by two medium pumpers and a tanker was launched to get to the server rooms. This tactic was successful and actions from the Fire Department managed to save the management offices and the server room.”
“Resources included two medium pumpers, one tanker from our Swellendam and Bredasdorp fire stations and additional skid units from Caledon Fire Station to cover the N2 etc. The Incident Command Unit was deployed for the whole of the three days” said Chief Geldenhuys.
“The protest actions carried on for the whole of Wednesday. Fire services were strategically deployed to be able to protect high risk installations like the Canola Factory and high value assets like department stores as well as other municipal infrastructure.
