A Huey helicopter (Photo: Izak de Vries)
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Collectively, we proved that participating together as a nation we build our country ourselves. The country does not belong to the government, it belongs to the people of South Africa.
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Imtiaz Sooliman wrote a message to the residents of Gqeberha, it was shared on a number of community platforms
The setting was very similar: drought, dry vegetation, alien plants, strong winds and water restrictions. The devastation, loss of homes and personal possessions, cost to insurance companies, damage to tourism, the economy and the environment was astronomical; pets, livestock and animals in the wild were hungry, and twenty-two million bees perished. The rapid evacuation from homes and from Knysna Hospital, the risk to institutions of care, the anxiety and anguish, the psychological and emotional trauma, did we want a repeat of this five years later?
All credit to Mr Wayne Hendrikse, acting fire chief in Nelson Mandela Bay Metro who made that all important call to Gift of the Givers on Tuesday, 29 November, in the afternoon: "My fire fighters are exhausted, they need nutrition and liquids, our fire trucks cannot access the fire which is spreading in all parts of the city, Beach View, Sea View and Bay West is burning, the water source is too far from the fire trucks, the wind is unabating, we not going to cope." In essence, Nelson Mandela Bay Metro was in serious trouble.
The intervention had to be fast, efficient and decisive. The voice of Garth Sampson, the weather guru, was crucial giving us up to date feedback on the wind speeds and gusts. Time was against us, this fire was going to spread aggressively. Our teams arrived from East London the same evening, meals, liquids, eye gene, energy drinks and support for the fire fighters was on hand. By 1am we were assisting with the evacuation of 2 000 residents from Sea View informal settlement to a community hall providing mattresses, blankets, hot meals and the essentials.
One of the many water projects provided by Gift of the givers in Gqeberha (Photo: Izak de Vries)
Wednesday morning at first light two Huey helicopters, and a spotter plane, funded by Gift of the Givers, departed from Stellenbosch. Water bombing from the air was going to be critical. Added to this we sent in our two water tankers to support the fire trucks, modified the fittings at seven of our boreholes (we drilled 45 in the city) to provide water closer to the fire trucks, to our water tankers and the myriad volunteers using water tanks on their bakkies. By Thursday we sent in 30 additional fire fighters and a water bomber plane, engineers and additional pilots, to augment the Hueys. On Friday we added an additional water bomber plane, our aircraft releasing 8 400 litres per flight. Bay West shopping mall, Moffat Express mall, housing complexes, a sports facility, schools, built up industrial centres and electrical substations were saved just in time. Sea View, Beach View, Sunridge, Fairview, Green Bushes, Baakens and many other areas were water bombed continuously and together with the city’s fire fighters, our volunteer fire fighters, sourced from Working on Fire, residents, companies, and good Samaritans, the fires were brought under control.
Our special thanks to Mayor Retief Odendal, his team, the municipality, Wayne Hendriks, the fire fighters, SAPS, Working on Fire, the citizens of the city and the media, for everyone’s participation. Collectively, we proved that participating together as a nation we build our country ourselves. The country does not belong to the government, it belongs to the people of South Africa. The intervention in Gqeberha is a living example.
Imtiaz Sooliman
See also:
Reguit met Robinson: A Zoom conversation with Imtiaz Sooliman, founder of Gift of the Givers