A new force has quietly rolled onto Cape Town's roads, not police, not firefighters, but something in between.
SecureFire, the private firefighting arm of ADT Fidelity, is now actively responding to fire emergencies across the city, raising eyebrows and questions about its role alongside government emergency services.
At just R35 a month, 'less than the price of a cappuccino,' according to Fidelity CEO Wahl Bartmann, the subscription-based service offers a layered response to fires in homes and businesses. The rollout is part of a national expansion strategy that has already seen SecureFire intervene in over 850 incidents since launching two years ago.
The model is simple, yet ambitious: every one of ADT's 200-plus armed response officers in Cape Town has been trained as a first responder, each vehicle equipped with a high-capacity fire extinguisher. Their goal? To arrive at a fire within five to six minutes, as Primedia Plus has reported.
'We're not here to replace the fire department,' Bartmann said, 'but to close the gap between when a fire starts and when help traditionally arrives.'