Deputy Minister of Public Works Mr Jeremy Cronin wishes all fire-fighters involved in the operation in Stellenbosch success
The Deputy Minister of Public Works Mr Jeremy Cronin has sent best wishes to the 250 Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) Working on Fire fire-fighters who are part of a multi stakeholder operation to extinguish raging fire in the Stellenbosch area.
“We support the work done by these young men and women in EPWP Working on Fire of saving the lives and homes of our communities from these raging fires. We know that some of them are exhausted from their involvement in last week’s operations in the Cape Town area but we wish them strength, endurances and success in their current operation,” Deputy Minister Cronin said today, 12 March 2015.
The EPWP fire-fighters who are part of this operation come from various Provinces including KwaZulu Natal, Free State, Eastern Cape and North West. They make up to 70 percent of the team of fire-fighters who are participating in this operation. Some of these young men and women (EPWP Working on Fire fire-fighters) were part of the successful operation to extinguish fires in several parts of the Cape Town last week.
According to Working on Fire, other stakeholders in the current operation in Stellenbosch include the fire-fighters and personnel from the Volunteer Wild Fire Services, Cape Winelands District Municipality, the Cape Nature Conservation and other public and private organisations.
“We thank all these fire-fighters, public and private organisations that are a part of this ongoing operation,” Deputy Minister Cronin added.
He also thanked all South Africans who have shown support and worked with the fire-fighters in the current and previous operations in the Province. “You have shown that when we all work together, we move this country forward,” Deputy Minister said.
The Deputy Director General (DDG) of EPWP in the national Department of Public Works, Mr Stanley Henderson urged all fire-fighters to be careful when doing their work.
He wished the fire-fighters who sustained minor injuries on Tuesday in the ongoing operation a speedy recovery.
On Sunday Willem Hendrik “Bees” Marias – a pilot for the EPWP Working on Fire who died while attempting to force land with his Bell 212 Huey (helicopter) near Olifantsbos in the Table Mountain National Park during the operations in the Cape Town area.
“The type of work that you do is dangerous that is why you must be careful at all times. Continue to work as a collective and lookout for each other. We are confident that you will be successful in this operation and that you will safely return your families and communities once the operation has been completed,” Henderson said.
The spokesman for Working on Fire Linton Rensburg earlier today said that the four fire-fighters who were injured on Tuesday in the Stellenbosch operation were recovering well and that they will be back in action soon.
Rensburg explained that close to 4000 hectors of land has been destroyed by the latest fires in the Jonkershoek area in Stellenbosch.
“Fortunately there has been no life lost and no properties destroyed by the fires,” he said.
He pointed out that the strong winds in the area were complicating their operation.
“However we remain optimistic that we will be able to extinguish the fires by the end of the day”.
