Cape Town’s most iconic building, the Castle of Good Hope, has been slapped with a letter of non-compliance by the metro’s Fire and Rescue Services department. A letter dated November 8, 2017 states that the Castle is in contravention of section 17(2) and 18(1) of the Community Fire Safety by-laws. Meaning that the building’s fire panels, smoke detection devices and fire extinguishers had not been getting serviced by an approved service provider on a annual basis and the fire hoses did not have nozzles.
Speaking to Cape Town Etc, the Castle of Good Hope’s Marketing Manager, Doreen Hendricks said the letter was not a surprise as the the department was invited by the Castle’s control board CEO, Calvyn Gilfellan.
“Our CEO was in a conference with one of the events coordinators from the city and he said to them why don’t you send us a specialist from the city to give us advice,” said Hendricks.
She said that they had just finished renovations and were therefore still in the snag period.
Ludwig Nisbet, from Fire and Rescue Services, advised the castle to appoint a private contractor to attend to the issues highlighted in the letter.
“We sent a letter to the contractor. We’re in the process of rectifying it. We’ve requested for people to come and service our fire extinguishers,”said Hendricks.
Until the Castle is up to code, they have been prohibited from hosting events.
Hendricks said that was not a problem, as the next event is only on 26 November and they would have addressed all the issues by then.
She added that the matter will be resolved as soon as next week.
Photography: Pinterest