Tshwane honours fallen firefighters on International Firefighters' Day

IOL News

04-05-2025

The City of Tshwane Emergency Services Department honours fallen firefighters who lost their lives in the line of duty on International Firefighters' Day.
Image: Supplied
The City of Tshwane Emergency Services Department marked International Firefighters' Day by honouring fallen colleagues at a ceremony held at the Kolonnane Retail Park Shopping Mall in Pretoria North.
The event paid tribute to four firefighters who lost their lives in separate incidents while serving the community.
Department spokesperson Tebogo Maake said two of the firefighters who were honoured lost their lives in specific incidents: one in 2015 while fighting a grass fire in Centurion, and another while rescuing someone from a river.
He said the department also honoured rescue technicians who collaborated with SAPS to retrieve the bodies of three constables who recently drowned in the Hennops River.
'Apart from that we were issuing certificates to 38 firefighters that underwent training from being paramedics to firefighters, who attended firefighting courses for a year,'he said.
The event included 11 graduates who were officer-trained firefighters, prepared for supervisory roles.
The department also showcased various firefighting activities, including rope rescue operations and the unveiling of 11 new vehicles.
The department demonstrated vehicle extraction techniques, simulating how to rescue individuals trapped in burned-out vehicles.
Maake said: 'Today is International Firefighters' Day, which is acknowledged every year on May 4, and here in Tshwane, we are celebrating our firefighters as the rest of the world is doing.'
Tshwane Emergency Services unveils new vehicles during the International Firefighters Day on Sunday in Pretoria North
Image: Oupa Mokoena/Indpendent Newspapers
One of the firefighters, Tinus Pretorius, 57, said: 'It is a very important day. Firefighters must be acknowledged for the work they are doing and the sacrifice of their lives in danger. They must do it every year for the people to see what the fire department is standing for so that we can be acknowledged.'
He began his career as a paramedic practitioner in 1992, but when the Gauteng government took over the ambulances, he and others had to undergo retraining.
'This is a new career and I am looking forward to it,' he said.
Firefighter Nomsa Munyai, 44, a supervisory course graduate, paid tribute to fallen colleagues, saying, "We remember them because they died saving lives in the line of duty."
She stressed the importance of honoring firefighters who died in the line of duty, saying they deserve recognition for their valuable work in helping the community, and often their role is misunderstood and confused with that of police officers.
'I have a passion and I love saving lives. It is not about money. I believe I am the chosen one for this job,'Munyai said.
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