The City of Tshwane’s Emergency Services Department capped off Youth Month with a celebration at Jubilee Mall in Hammanskraal, focusing on fire safety and winter awareness programmes.

Spokesperson Lindsay Mnguni said the campaign, which started on June 1, aimed to engage with the youth across the seven municipal regions throughout the month.

“We are raising awareness about fire safety, targeting the youth, but the message is for everyone. We are here as the community safety and emergency department to serve the community, and our key message is let us be safe,” he said.

He cautioned parents to keep paraffin stoves and braziers out of children’s reach.

“Since it is winter we all want to warm ourselves. Let the heating appliances be managed by adults rather than by the children because if there is a fire, especially in the informal settlements, in the middle of the night the fire spreads out quickly because there is wind. Let us be more safe than careless,” he said.

Mnguni emphasised the importance of having water on hand to extinguish fires, noting that different fires require different approaches, and not all can be put out with water.

On youth empowerment, he said the department’s initiatives depend on the City’s budget allocation, which determines the resources available for emergency services.

For instance, he mentioned that 388 medical emergency department employees faced layoffs, but the City opted to restructure the department and retrain them as firefighters instead.

Mnguni said the department offers a learnership programme that occasionally accommodates young people and partners with colleges like Tshwane University of Technology.

Region 4 and 6 Deputy Chief of Emergency Services, Petrus Modise, said the event concluded the department’s youth month outreach, noting they had successfully conducted awareness and engagement activities across all seven regions.

“This is this month to reflect on the accomplishments of the 1976 generations who stood up for dignity and justice in the face of oppression,” he said.

He talked about the need to engage in partnerships with today’s youth, who have the potential to transform society.

He said it was important to engage and empower Tshwane’s youth, encouraging them to lead with pride, dream big, and seize opportunities.

“We want to see firefighting as a calling where people serve with passion and make a difference. We are proud of what we have achieved this month and even with the lives we have touched,” he said.

rapula.moatshe@inl.co.za

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