Thirteen firefighters received recognition for their work at the annual mid-year service awards, held at Roeland Street fire station on Thursday September 2.
Of the 18 award recipients, five of them – two firefighters and three members of the Quality Assurance team – were not present at the ceremony.
Chief fire officer Ian Schnetler said the ceremony was usually held as an event for firefighters and stations across the city, however, due to the lockdown regulations, the awards were held in smaller events at individual stations.
He said the service commendation awards were for firefighters who went above and beyond the call of duty, even though all the staff were saving lives everyday.
The mayoral committee member for safety and security, JP Smith, thanked the staff for all their hard work despite trying times during the Covid-19 pandemic. “The staff should get an award for every time they turn up, but for us it is business as usual.”
He commended the firefighters for maintaining discipline and professional standards that were “admirable”.
Mr Smith said the safety and security directorate had lost seven colleagues in the past five weeks, and the City of Cape Town were touching on 100 deaths among staff due to Covid-19.
He said while this has not been a good year with many taking ill and losing loved ones, he encouraged front-line workers such as firefighters to lower the risk of severe symptoms by getting the Covid-19 vaccination.