City of Cape Town appoints a chief HEAT officer, the first in SA

As extreme weather events accelerate, summers are getting hotter in many parts of the world.

And the City of Cape Town has announced the appointment of a Chief Heat Officer - a first for South Africa.

Albert Ferreira, manager for Resilience and Climate Change, will take on this role to champion awareness around heat and extreme heat events expected to increase in frequency due to climate change.

Cape Town became a member of the international City Champions for Heat Action (CCHA) initiative in 2024 to amplify awareness of the city's heat risks and advance its heat response work with global partners.

In the hottest months, many areas in Cape Town experience temperatures higher than 35°C and being heat smart is becoming increasingly important, the CoCT says.

It's the third city in Africa to join the initiative, along with Freetown in Sierra Leone and Kisumu County in Kenya.

Other international cities include Athens, Melbourne and Santiago.

"As Africans, used to hot temperatures, we often minimise the dangers of extreme heat events, especially as it pertains to the most vulnerable in our city and outdoor workers", said Gareth Morgan, the CoCT's executive director for Future Planning and Resilience.

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Chief heat officers around the world aim to "unify their city governments responses to extreme heat through internal activism, accelerating existing heat protection efforts and initiating new work to reduce the risks and impacts of extreme heat, especially for heat-vulnerable communities in their cities".

The appointment builds on Cape Town's Beat the Heat programme, introduced during the summer of 2024.

It focuses on vulnerable communities located in regions often experiencing summer temperatures hotter than 35°C such as Atlantis, Mamre, Dunoon, Joe Slovo and Sir Lowry’s Pass Village.

The highest temperature recorded for 2024 was 44.6° C at the Royal Yacht Club on the Foreshore - the current highest temperature on record for Cape Town.