POLOKWANE – Born and raised in Haenertsburg, Sam has always had a love for the outdoors. He says growing up in an area with such lush vegetation influenced him to study forestry when he completed school.
He fell in love with forestry and studied towards a forestry diploma and a BTech degree in forestry at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University. In 1992 he began working for the then department of water affairs as a forester until 2007.
His role as forester at the department was to be involved with civil culture, harvesting, fighting fires, as well as community forestry. He was later in charge of establishing and implementing the National Veld and Forest Fire Act of 1998 in Mpumalanga where he introduced the act to farmers.
Sam joined Working on Fire (WoF) in 2007 where he became provincial manager for the North West and Gauteng regions. WoF is an organisation which is part of the Extended Public Works Programme.
Working on Fire (WoF) is a government-funded, job-creation programme focusing on implementing integrated fire management in South Africa.
“We specialise in integrated fire management. This includes fire training, firefighting and fire prevention,” he says.
Sam manages 29 bases in Limpopo and says his job is unique because the organisation saves lives, saves property and protect the environment.
He says skills development is an important aspect of his job as he has the opportunity to change people’s lives by giving them a start in their careers.
“We have the opportunity to give back to the community and we give people a chance to restart their lives by employing parolees and helping them reintegrate into the community,” he explains.
Although Sam loves his work, he enjoys having time off to spend away from the office and outdoors.
“”I enjoy my job, it is not stressful but rather, demanding. My job has taken me away from being outdoors all the time, so whenever I get the chance, I am outside.” His favourite leisurely activity is watching TV. He is a fan of sports, especially soccer, cricket and rugby and an avid reader. He wishes to travel more and explore the country and the world as he has only travelled due to his work.
His motivation comes in the form of his daughter and seeing her grow up motivates him to work harder so he can provide for her. The best advice he received in life came from a priest who told him to never give up in life and Sam says that molded him to become a better man and who he is today.
The most memorable moments in his career come in the form of three fires which he fought. The first was a fire that occurred in Thabazimbi in 2010, which he says was his first experience fighting a fire on a large scale.
“I left the office thinking I would come back the same day, I found myself staying for six days trying to fight the blaze due to its severity,” he explains. The second fire was at the Sondela Nature Reserve and Resort in 2012. “We were notified of the fire and rushed to the scene but when I got there, 80 chalets had already burnt down. What makes it so memorable is that several of my firefighters had close brushes with death but luckily managed to escape.” The third fire was in Modimolle in 2015 in which Sam lost a fellow firefighter.
“The first thing I think of when I see a fire is safety and I pick out escape routes, the next thing I look at is topography and the wind direction before I fight the blaze,” he says.
Maepa’s advice to future firefighters is to be disciplined, focused, open minded, think logically and be able to react quickly as those are all qualities a good firefighter needs to be the best.
