Unsung heroes: The volunteers saving lives in Pretoria

South African society will always have, to some degree, remnants of its history as a selfish, violent, dog-eat-dog mining community, built upon layers of race segregation and law.

And many of us seem to have two mantras in life: “What’s in it for me?” and “It’s not my fault…”

It is rare to come upon that South African who is selfless and sets aside his or her time to help others, even in conditions of danger or stress.

Most of us, in fact, would ask such as person: “Why do you do it?”, or even – because that sort of service is so incomprehensible to some – “Are you mad?”

That’s probably been said to people like Ettienne van Rooyen and JJ Pretorius from Pretoria on the odd occasion … because not many of us would give up our time and money to provide additional emergency services to help save lives in medical emergencies.

They are some of the handful of people in the Pretoria Volunteer Emergency Services who work after-hours and over weekends to assist emergency personnel and police at accidents and medical emergencies around the capital.

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They include advanced first aiders, nurses, doctors and paramedics. Some paid for the training themselves.

Van Rooyen, who has been doing the work for 25 years, says: “It’s amazing and I enjoy it. It’s very fulfilling. It’s about practising the skills to help or save someone’s life.”

It’s physically tough, yet also emotionally and psychologically demanding. The service’s founder, Hugo Minnaar, has spoken on social media about battling against lack of funding and the current system.

He wrote that two patients had died because the ambulances didn’t arrive.

He and his dedicated band of selfless citizens deserve not only our accolades, but also our support… so if you can, open your wallets and make a contribution.

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