‘First-of-a-kind’ project in Cape Town informal settlement fireproofs 100 homes

This home in Overcome Heights has been treated with Tekrok C, which means it can withstand a fire for up to four hours. (Photo: Supplied / City of Cape Town Disaster Risk Management Centre)

By Tamsin Metelerkamp

10 Jan 2024

Over the past six months the company Mandoval Vermiculite has worked with the City of Cape Town to fireproof just more than 100 structures in the Overcome Heights informal settlement near Muizenberg. The pilot project offers an innovative potential solution to the long-standing problem of runaway fires in the city’s informal communities.

A project aimed at mitigating the risk of fires in informal settlements was recently rolled out in the Overcome Heights community near Muizenberg in Cape Town. The initiative, which was backed by a public-private partnership between the City of Cape Town and a company called Mandoval Vermiculite, is the first of its kind when it comes to combating the spread of fires in these settings.

The project is the culmination of about five years of work on the part of Mandoval Vermiculite, from developing the fireproofing product to applying it to structures in Overcome Heights, according to Andrew Lashbrooke, the CEO of the company.

“The purpose of the pilot was to learn some lessons about the actual application of the product in a real-life informal settlement. This would give us an indication of how long it actually takes and the complexities we would have to deal with. It would also provide an indication of the durability of the product in such an environment,” Lashbrooke explained.

Mandoval Vermiculite is the largest passive fire protection producer in South Africa, he said. Its products are used in the building designs of structures such as oil refineries to minimise the risk of fire damage.

informal settlement fireproofed A roof in the Overcome Heights informal settlement that has been treated with Tekrok C. (Photo: Supplied / City of Cape Town Disaster Risk Management Centre)

The fireproofing agent used in Overcome Heights, Tekrok C, is a vermiculite-based cementitious product with a four-hour fire rating, meaning structures treated with the product can withstand a fire for up to four hours. It was sprayed on the roofs and walls of just over 100 dwellings in the settlement, covering an area of about 2,000 square metres.

This pilot project can be an eye-opener for everyone, if [the City] can save money [they have to use] each year... to run around for fires.

Some structures could be only partially coated with Tekrok C due to a lack of accessibility between homes. However, the partially coated dwellings were carefully selected to create “fire buffers” within the community, explained Joshua Fortune, a City of Cape Town Disaster Risk Management Centre official. These buffer zones are intended to prevent the spread of fires between different groupings of homes.

The nonprofit organisation Kindling, which tackles fire safety inequalities across the world, helped to identify high-risk pathways for fire in the community, as well as mapping the most effective fireproofing of the structures.

Fires in informal settlements are very difficult to control and often have devastating consequences for residents. The risk of runaway fires in and around Cape Town is particularly high during summer when strong southeasterly winds are prevalent.

This season alone, hundreds of people have been displaced by informal settlement fires across Cape Town. On 27 December 2023, the nonprofit organisation Gift of the Givers, which provides disaster relief, reported that it had assisted with 14 fires over the previous three weeks.

Read more in Daily Maverick: Hundreds displaced after string of flames rips through Cape Town informal settlements

One of these fires destroyed 121 homes in Hillview Heights, a settlement near Overcome Heights, on Christmas Eve.

Nazeema Jonkers (left) and Karen Mentoor, residents of the Overcome Heights informal settlement near Muizenberg. (Photo: Tamsin Metelerkamp)

Collaborative effort

Mandoval Vermiculite approached the City with the proposal for the pilot project and has provided more than R3.5-million for the initiative to date, including funding for the product, equipment and training of workers, Lashbrooke said.

Mark Pluke, head of Area West at the Disaster Risk Management Centre, said that under the Disaster Management Act, the centre was mandated to support and promote projects that reduced risk in the region.

“We were approached by the company and this fits perfectly into what is required from us. So… I got permission from… the head of Disaster Risk Management to go ahead and support Mandoval with their project proposal,” he explained.

The Disaster Risk Management Centre assisted with community engagement sessions to get input from residents on the best way to implement the project, Fortune said. It also provided funding for the employment of 11 Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) workers to apply the product.

“Mandoval issued… the workers with a certificate [showing that they] are applicators of the product,” said Fortune. “Disaster Risk Management offered… First Aid Level 1 training, as well as the emergency evacuation training. So, it was also just to capacitate these workers from the community [so that] if anything should happen, they are… able to support and help.”

The roll-out of the project was not without its difficulties, he continued. The rainy weather in the third quarter of 2023 delayed the work, while adjustments had to be made to the thickness of the applied product to ensure the roofs of the informal dwellings could bear its weight.

Karen Mentoor, a community leader in Overcome Heights, told Daily Maverick that the fire mitigation project, as well as the first aid and emergency evacuation training, had had a positive impact on the community.

It’s made a big difference. It’s cool inside at night and it’s a little soundproof… I don’t need a house any more because this feels like a house for me.

“We’re thankful to Mandoval and to the City for bringing this project… We are praying that more City officials like the mayor… take note of what’s happening in Overcome Heights, because this can move over to all the informal settlements…

“This pilot project can be an eye-opener for everyone, if [the City] can save money [they have to use] each year... to run around for fires,” Mentoor said.

City of Cape Town Disaster Risk Management Centre officials Joshua Fortune (left) and Mark Pluke with community leader Karen Mentoor in the Overcome Heights informal settlement near Muizenberg. (Photo: Tamsin Metelerkamp)

This home in Overcome Heights has been treated with Tekrok C, which means it can withstand a fire for up to four hours. (Photo: Supplied / City of Cape Town Disaster Risk Management Centre)

Another Overcome Heights resident, Nazeema Jonkers, has been living in the community for 18 years. She said the application of the product to her home had turned it from a “Wendy house to a house”.

“It’s made a big difference. It’s cool inside at night and it’s a little soundproof… I don’t need a house any more because this feels like a house for me,” she said.

The future of the initiative is uncertain. The City has indicated that it will not be able to provide EPWP workers in 2024. While Lashbrooke stated that Mandoval Vermiculite would be willing to continue the work, the company is not able to bear the full cost of the project’s expansion at this stage.

“The next level of my time is trying to engage with corporates and non-governmental organisations… to see if we can take this project further,” he said. “We really need other people to get on board.” DM

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Collaborative effort