Road name bid for pilot
City residents in favour of honouring Bees Marais who died in chopper crash
RESIDENTS of Cape Town are strongly in favour of honouring volunteer firefighting helicopter pilot Hendrik “Bees” Marais who died when his helicopter crashed while he was waterbombing a fire near Misty Cliffs recently.
A proposal by Fish Hoek resident Joe Renney, posted on Facebook recently, to have the R65 road from Cape Point Nature Reserve to Misty Cliffs renamed after the veteran pilot, is gaining growing support.
Renney, 68, a recently retired electrical engineer who still works two to three days a week, knows the life of a volunteer only too well. He was a volunteer who served in the South African Navy Reserves for 28 years.
Recently, he wrote to mayor Patricia de Lille, to propose that the road be named after Marais in honour of his sacrifice.
“He is a hero, in my view,” Renney said yesterday. “I live very near the fire station in Fish Hoek and there is always something going on. We live in a mountainous area where fire is always a threat. A lot of the firefighters here are also volunteers and, as a volunteer, I know that volunteers are often not recognised after the doors are closed.”
Renney, who attained the level of Master at Arms of the South African Navy Reserves, a rare achievement, said councillor Brett Herron wrote back to him, telling him how to go about making a formal application to the sub-council in his area to have the name changed.
“Herron sounded positive about my proposal and explained to me what to do to get support for the initiative,” Renney said.
Herron, the mayco member for Transport and councillor for Ward 57, thanked Renney for his proposal.
“In order to take this further I would suggest that you make a formal proposal – either to the ward councillor and sub-council – together with evidence of support for the proposal,” Herron wrote.
“If the sub-council supports this proposal they can recommend to the Naming Committee that a formal public participation process be conducted.”
Now Renney has called on the people of Cape Town to support him.
“What I need now is lots of support from the public. I have put my proposal on several Facebook pages, including the page Cape Town’s Deep South, and I need as many votes as I can get to take this propos- al forward.”
Marais’s widow, Jackie, was too distraught to speak to the Cape Argus, but she made it known through a family contact that she supported the initiative.
At Working on Fire, the idea also found strong support.
“We are left humbled by the suggestion to name a street after Bees Marais,” said Trevor Wilson, the incident commander at the time of the accident.
“He was greatly respected by his firefighting colleagues in Working on Fire in the air and on the ground. This initiative shows just how much the people of Cape Town also appreciated his selfless dedication to saving life. It is an awesome tribute,” Wilson said.