The City of Tshwane has vowed to spare no effort in building capacity within its emergency services unit, including the fire department.
Mayor Nasiphi Moya today honoured emergency personnel who displayed heroism during recent disasters.
Before being ousted, the city’s DA-led coalition government had been pushing for the privatisation of the fire department. Moya, however, remains adamant that none of the city’s essential services will be outsourced.
Moya also criticised her predecessor, suggesting he had an ulterior motive when he pushed for the privatisation of the then-under-resourced fire department.
“Somebody said your work should be given to the private sector because they did not appreciate the value you add, or they just wanted to create opportunities for the private sector. But we didn’t agree. That’s why we have been investing in you. We continue to recruit more personnel, including firefighters, in order to build capacity to respond whenever there’s an emergency,” said Moya.
She made the remarks before handing over a dozen certificates to firefighters she described as heroic for their response to various fires reported at substations.
The City is ramping up recruitment and purchasing new equipment as it gradually builds its emergency services capacity to become more responsive.
It recently purchased four fire engines, two of which were on display during the ceremony held at Silverton Fire Station.
Moya believes emergency services are among the functions that should be provided by the state rather than outsourced to third parties.
Hannes Coetzee, the mayoral committee member responsible for community safety, said the City was still far from reaching its desired capacity but that progress was being made in the right direction.
He also noted that the procurement of fire engines had taken longer than expected because they are specialised vehicles.