Is the toughest firefighter alive from Krugersdorp?

The Krugersdorp firefighters are gearing up to take part in the Toughest Firefighter Alive SA open competition for the first time since 2019, and to help prepare themselves they took on a team from Revive Mind Body and Soul.

The seven firefighters from the Krugersdorp firehouse’s N’zuri team challenged nine of Revive’s teammates to a fitness challenge which included squats, burpees, push-ups and the ultimate plank competition.

The Toughest Firefighter Alive competition will be held in Mossel Bay on September 17 this year.

Yolandie Botha from Revive said they do these fitness challenges once a month and then keep track of the progress they make. The firefighters were close to her heart because of the amazing work they do.

They are the real heroes and they don’t get the praise they deserve,” she told her teammates, adding that firefighters have much bigger challenges than just fighting fires.

“You place your life in their hands, so they need to be fit.”

The challenge with the firefighters involved five basic exercises and every firefighter went head to head with one of Revive’s teammates. Participants had one minute to do as many of each exercise as they could while their opponent kept count.

Yolandie said it was worth mentioning that Gift Malejwe from the N’zuri team went head to head with Mariette van Heerden in a full plank-off. Mariette did a time of 15 minutes and 37 seconds while Gift lasted 17 minutes and 18 seconds.

Manie Gouws from the N’zuri team said they enjoyed the challenge as it was something different for them, and the firefighters had a blast.

He had faced the Toughest Firefighter competition before and said in this year’s Toughest Firefighter competition they wish to enter a women’s team and two men’s teams – between 12 and 15 people. But they need sponsors to do it as it will cost about R2 000 per person for a return bus ticket, and the accommodation will cost about R1 500 per person.

If you would like to contribute to our firefighters being named the Toughest Firefighter you can contact Stephan Lourens on 082 866 5288.