POLOKWANE – Firefighters attached to Capricorn District Municipality’s (CDM) fire services celebrated International Firefighters’ Day at Bolivia Estate last Friday and were joined by representatives of the national and provincial disaster management centres, Working on Fire and other rescue services.
The programme included static displays, a presentation on emergency management legislation, fire safety tips and an awards ceremony.
Guests were also informed about the provincial perspective on fire services, the role of local government in this service and intervention programmes.
CDM Mayor Mamedupi Teffo delivered the keynote address and said that International Firefighters’ Day looks into the significant strides made to strengthen firefighting capabilities and to raise awareness about fire, its dangers and how to avoid disasters following a fire.
“Fires have a huge impact on our environment. By nature and degree, veldfires do not respect property and neither do they respect boundaries. If they rage uncontrolled, they end up causing the eco-system to suffer and anyone owning land or property has a duty to control fires on his or her own land. However, when fires burn in severe conditions, they quickly extend beyond anyone’s property, and become a problem that cannot be handled by individuals alone. For this reason, we have developed effective policies and plans to prevent fires and educate our communities about its disasters,” Teffo explained.
Teffo alluded to the fact that the district municipality provides firefighting equipment to its traditional authorities regularly.
“This demonstrates that we take the risk factors of fire seriously and we are making significant strides to prevent and mitigate the occurrence of fires. We therefore pride ourselves on being the most coherent force in firefighting and currently, Capricorn boasts a massive number of firefighters across all local municipalities in the district. These teams are on stand-by 24-hours, always ready and on high alert to attend to any reported emergency.”
Teffo paid tribute to colleagues who lost their lives in the line of duty.
“Like you, they were good stewards who served us with courage and fortitude. We can never reward them enough for their brave sacrifices. You deserve all the honour for risking your lives in service to us all,” Teffo assured guests.
“It is therefore befitting that we gather here to pay tribute to you who wake up daily to go wage a Herculean battle against a fury of fires, no matter how huge or dangerous it is, in order to save lives and properties. The most encouraging, special thing about your career is that you chose this profession knowing it comes with its risks; you accepted the perils of your jobs with unflinching hearts and unwavering spirits, at the greatest risk of your own lives.”
Teffo announced that the district’s firefighting capacity will increase when an additional fire station is completed and opened at Ga-Rampuru in Polokwane’s Aganang cluster, named after TT Cholo.
“This will increase our turnaround time in attending to disaster fire incidents. The station is now 88% complete and we have resolved to reprioritise it for completion this financial year. Once completed, we will recruit many firefighters – males and females at various levels in order to respond adequately to fires in Moletjie West, Matlala and Mashashane. May God bless all firefighters and all fallen heroes and heroines. May he watch over your families. We want to ensure that we keep the motivation that no fire is too big or too small for our firefighters,” Teffo concluded.
