At least 48 newly-appointed officers at the Tshwane Emergency Services Department have been praised for bringing with them specialised skills to boost the department's capacity and enhance the delivery of quality emergency services to communities.
The new officers were welcomed and congratulated during a prestigious event at the Central Fire Station in Pretoria, where they were awarded ranks.
The recruits will fill critical positions such as district commanders, company commanders, fire safety officers, emergency planning officers, and disaster management officers.
Department spokesperson Lindsay Mnguni said the new officers possess a range of skills, including negotiating, leadership, project management, communication and advanced linguistic proficiency.
They have also demonstrated a willingness to accept responsibility and attention to detail, even under extreme pressure.
Mnguni said: “Emergency planning officers perform skilled technical tasks associated with the interpretation, application and enforcement of fire protection regulations and technical fire safety requirements as these relate to town-planning scheme applications, changes in building occupancy, scrutiny of fire protection plans for code compliance and the final inspection of buildings in accordance with approved fire protection plans.”
Some of the new officers shared their thoughts on their new roles.
One of them, Neo Mgudlwa, talked about the importance of doing things right and with authority, while Nyaleni Makumbila highlighted the need for leaders to stand on a high moral ground and treat their work as both humanitarian and business endeavours.
Mgudlwa said: “This was a fact-finding process for me. We have been acting for a long time, and a lot of things were beginning to look familiar to us, but now we know for sure that we must do things right and with authority. The tone of leadership set by top management has rubbed off onto all of us. We’ll bring good results for the department, the community and, ultimately, ourselves.”
Makumbila said: “When we go to the new stations, we must review the stats on accidents and identify the root causes. As managers and leaders, we must treat our work not only as humanitarian, but also as a business, which can only strive with the implementation of sound business principles, as the deputy chief for the training academy had also advised.”