Court ruling clears the way for private firefighting services

The North Gauteng High Court has dismissed an application by the Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality to have private firefighting services operating in the metro declared illegal.

This provides long-sought certainty to operators such as Fidelity who have increasingly been filling a growing gap as the capacity of many cities across South Africa to deliver these services has all but collapsed.

The city’s Department of Emergency Services together with the Gauteng and National Departments of Co-Operative Governance and Traditional Affairs brought the action against Fidelity SecureFire and the Sinoville Firefighting Association (SSFA).

The application was dismissed in full, with costs, including those of two counsel.

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Critics contended that private services are operating in a legally grey area given that the Fire Brigade Services Act makes provision for services outside of the control of a local authority to apply to the minister to be recognised as a designated service.

Private operators have long argued that they neither wish nor are required to be designated services and simply provide firefighting services to their own clients under contract.

Ruling a ‘straightforward interpretation of the law’

Fidelity Services Group says “the court’s reasoning reflects a straightforward interpretation of the law as written, read in context and aligned with its purpose”.

“This ruling provides long-overdue legal certainty,” says Fidelity CEO Wahl Bartmann.

“Fidelity SecureFire exists to protect lives, assets, and critical infrastructure for clients who choose additional layers of protection, including businesses, communities, and insurers who rely on predictable, professional fire response. The court has confirmed that this can be done lawfully, responsibly, and nationally within the framework of South African law.”

The judgment says the court affirmed that:

• Private firefighting services rendered to contracted clients are lawful;
• Fidelity SecureFire does not operate as a municipal fire brigade;
• There is no legal requirement for Fidelity SecureFire to register as a designated service under Section 4 of the [Fire Brigade Services] Act; and
• Fidelity SecureFire may lawfully render private firefighting services nationally, and is not restricted to any specific municipality or region.

Bartmann says Fidelity remains “fully open to cooperation with municipalities and public emergency services”.

He adds that public safety “is not a competition; it is a shared responsibility” and “progress in emergency services comes from partnership, not resistance”.

Read: Ex-rugby player’s security firm Fidelity plans IPO [Nov 2025]

The SFFA says the ruling means “the Sinoville Firefighters may continue to operate as volunteers, assisting the community during fires and emergency situations”.

“This judgment is a decisive victory for community safety and affirms the critical role of volunteer firefighting services where municipal capacity falls short.”

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AfriForum, whose legal team assisted the SFFA in the case, says it will soon write to the metro “requesting that all previous communications discouraging the metro’s fire brigades from working with organisations such as the SFA be withdrawn”.

Tarien Cooks, disaster management specialist at AfriForum, says: “This watershed decision is in the interest of all South Africans.

“Where vital municipal services such as firefighting fall short, it is volunteers, private businesses and community organisations that step up.”

Democratic Alliance caucus leader in the metro Cilliers Brink says the party “calls on Tshwane not to waste further taxpayers’ money by appealing the judgment” and instead seek “to cooperate with private and voluntary fire services”.

He says it was wrong for the metro to take this matter to court given that the private entities are covering its shortcomings.

He cited an example of this from earlier in 2025 when “voluntary firefighters were prevented from fighting a fire in Klerksoord, even as Tshwane’s own fire brigade was clearly in need of assistance”.

Well-equipped

Fidelity’s SecureFire is by far the largest private operator in the country.

It has a “fleet of 600 first responder units positioned for rapid initial intervention, 34 second responder units (rapid intervention vehicles) equipped for escalation and sustained firefighting and 34 third responder units, including fire engines, water tankers, and specialised firefighting units”.

It now operates across all major metros in South Africa and has expanded into larger regional markets including Polokwane, Richards Bay, Nelspruit, Rustenburg, Pietermaritzburg, Stellenbosch, Paarl, Hermanus, and Worcester.

It says it will roll out services to Ladysmith, Klerksdorp, Welkom, Vryheid, Margate, Plettenberg Bay, Newcastle, Middelburg, Kimberley, Jeffreys Bay, George, and Witbank in early 2026.

In the first 10 months of 2025, Fidelity “responded to 1 117 fire-related incidents across its covered regions”.

It was first on scene in “75.9% of all incidents”.

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