[imagesource: Twitter / @nyeusi_waasi

On Sunday evening, numerous residents in the Devil’s Peak area reported seeing people lighting fires on the stretch of mountain above Philip Kgosana Drive (formerly De Waal Drive).

Melanie Verwoerd, a Devil’s Peak resident who spoke with CapeTalk, said “we screamed at them and they laughed at us and kept going”.

Another resident, Yazeed Evans, wasn’t prepared to let the alleged arsonists get away with it, and sprung into action, reports EWN:

“I was having dinner with my family and we have a sort of decking part of our house and we saw them light some fires. We saw three silhouettes behind the fire that they were lighting. They started to light a second fire and then they were on their way to lighting a third fire,” Yazeed Evans said…

“So, I decided to grab the two German Shepherds that we have, they’re fully trained German Shepherds, and my eldest son and myself just sprinted up towards where we know where that walking trail was, it’s about a kilometre sprint and we just tried to stop that person from lighting any more fires.”

Those two dogs are Maximus and Storm, and they’re very, very good dogs:

Image: Facebook / Vredehoek / Devil’s Peak Community]

Evans also recounted his story to IOL:

“Other neighbours were also screaming at them, so I decided to try and stop them and by the time I got ready they already started fire… I then found a man who was around two metres away from the fire. I told him to stop, I only had a torch with me. I called the police and the security guard came up and we escorted him down to the police near the road. He was arrested,” said Evans.

The suspect, said to be in his 30s, was arrested just after 8PM, with police spokesperson Andre Traut stating that two other suspects managed to evade arrest.

Footage of the arrest has been shared on Twitter:

The man was taken in for questioning and the police have confirmed he admitted to starting the fires… #capetownfires pic.twitter.com/7ykDW37YSb

— Scott Hurly (@ScottHurly) April 18, 2021

The suspect appeared in court today, and says he is being falsely accused.

The man arrested on suspicion of arson on the periphery of the main Table Mountain fire says he lives in a structure on the mountain. His lawyer says he intends submitting that he is being falsely accused. His own home destroyed. Private lawyer is helping pro bono @TeamNews24

— Jenni Evans (@itchybyte) April 20, 2021

Investigations into the cause of the original fire are ongoing, as SANParks faces criticism of ‘improper fynbos management’ and ignoring warning signs.

[sources:ewn&iol]