The Deputy Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Ms. Bernice Swarts, today (Monday, 17 February 2025) visited the Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality’s Fire Station in Centurion to inspect firefighting vehicles currently stored there by the Department.
The vehicles were procured by the Department for use by the Service Provider in the implementation of Working on Fire Programme initiated by the Department. The Auditor-General of South Africa (AGSA) made a finding in that Service Providers are expected to use their own resources to execute Bid related objectives as provided for in the current 5 years contract concluded on 6 January 2023.
Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality is among the municipalities earmarked to receive these firefighting vehicles once the transfer process is finalized.
Deputy Minister Swarts’ visit follows media reports alleging that the firefighting vehicles are sitting idle in depots across the country instead of being used for active firefighting. Additionally, there were claims that no DFFE firefighting vehicles were parked at the Tshwane Fire Station and that some vehicles stored at other municipal fire stations had been stripped of key components, such as batteries.
“The purpose of my visit to Tshwane Fire Station in Centurion was to verify the presence and condition of our firefighting vehicles. I can confirm that nine firefighting vehicles are parked here and that they have not been vandalized, contrary to some reports,” said Deputy Minister Swarts.
She further dismissed claims that the vehicles had been unused for more than two years. “These vehicles arrived at Tshwane Fire Station in November 2024. Any suggestion that they have been sitting idle for two years is incorrect,” she clarified.
The Deputy Minister acknowledged the impact that repossessing the vehicles from the service provider (Kishugu) has had on FPAs, which play a critical role in combating veld fires. She reassured FPAs and stakeholders within the forestry sector that the Department is working to ensure the vehicles are swiftly transferred to municipalities for operational use.
“I recognize the challenges that Fire Protection Associations (FPAs) have faced due to this transition. I however commit to ensuring that the process to transfer these firefighting vehicles to the respective municipalities is expedited so that these vehicles can go back to work and assist FPAs to attend to veld fire incidents in our communities. Having said that, we must also afford municipalities the opportunity to follow their internal processes – including coming up with Council resolutions - regarding the transfer of these firefighting vehicles,” Deputy Minister Swarts added.
In total, DFFE has reclaimed 283 firefighting vehicles from Kishugu. Of these, 107 are earmarked to be transferred to various municipalities in the country. The remain 176 vehicles are used by the Department’s internal forestry branch to manage fires in DFFE plantations across the country.
For media enquiries, please contact:
Peter Mbelengwa
Cell: 082 611 8197
E-mail: pmbelengwa@dffe.gov.za
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