Cape Town - Senior firefighters were formally acknowledged and celebrated during a graduation ceremony after having completed the Officer Development Programme, as part of the City of Cape Town’s Fire and Rescue Service Training Academy.
The graduation ceremony was hosted for the 14 senior firefighters, all with over 20 years of experience, with beaming family and friends in attendance, at the Alphen Centre, Constantia, on Monday.
The firefighters from fire bases across the Western Cape now possess proven competency to take-up positions of officer, after having completed the training and are now able to easily apply for these positions.
The Officer Development Programme was first introduced in 2023, with the current graduates the second group of senior firefighters to have completed the programme.
Graduate and senior firefighter of 26 years, Alvin Kaliza, from Belhar, was stationed at Belhar Fire Station for 20 years and four years at his current base, Goodwood Fire Station.
“This training has been really a mind shift changing into advancement and the different ways of fighting fires.”
He said he would be applying for a leading firefighter position, the first level of an officer.
“Relief that its over. It’s been hard work and dedication to go through this process.”
Graduate and senior firefighter for 25 years, Steven Schnugh, said: “We were given an opportunity to take this one… it was tough times, it took a lot of time away from my family. It took a lot of commitment, studying and that sort of thing too. So even less time with the family but at the end of the day it was a good achievement.”
Assistant chief fire officer, Michael Abrahams, said there were a number of staff with over 20 years of experience as senior firefighters, with the programme part of their career development and investment into their own staff.
“We’ve taken those people that have got all the experience and because we’re now internationally accredited with our qualifications, we actually then get these staff members qualified with their years of experience to get them into the officer programme so they are actually eligible to actually apply for an officer’s position.”
The senior firefighters were selected based on their years of experience and amount of courses already completed.
The programme also allowed for outstanding courses to be completed, considered as prerequisites.
Present for the ceremony and delivering the keynote address was mayco member for safety and security, JP Smith.
“We have shifted gear a little bit. There is a greater emphasis in the last year or two on staff development. The City is constantly putting resources into our Fire Department and Cape Town Fire Services is widely acknowledged as the most functional Fire Department in South Africa… So we are expanding, launching our 33rd fire station, taking in constant new equipment.”