We must all step up to the plate

If you had to sum up the attitude of many of our people towards other South Africans, “I got mine” would fit perfectly. So few of us care about others. So few of us are prepared to put ourselves out in any way for our community.

Yet, we are often the ones bleating loudest about what our country can do for us – and not the other way around – and why we get very little back for the taxes we pay.

There are people, though, who are still prepared to step up – even if it is uncomfortable or puts them in harm’s way – to make their communities better or safer places.

Today we salute the volunteer firefighters of the Overberg Wildfire Volunteers (OWV), a nonprofit helping fight fires and, when needed, evacuate residents and animals and so on.

It’s the brainchild of Bernardus Groenewald, a businessman from Kleinmond, and was formed seven years ago after he and his family narrowly survived a wildfire in the village of Fisherhaven.

Like many volunteer organisations, OWV runs on a shoestring, with sponsorship and donations.

ALSO READ: How climate change helped fuel Cape Town fires 

Volunteers use their own vehicles and pay for their own protective equipment. And just getting qualified is tough: first, you pass a fitness test and then must do oral, written and practical exams.

OWV and organisations like it fall under the Western Cape Disaster Management structure of provincial government. It’s organised according to the Incident Command Systems (ICS), developed in the US in the ’70s, to improve coordination between federal, state and local government in managing disasters.

Apparently it’s the only SA province where the ICS is in place. For the volunteers, it’s tough, back-breaking work fighting the province’s killer fires. But it’s their chance to give something back to society.

It’s an example the rest of us should follow in our own communities.