Emfuleni local municipality adds new grass fire units to its emergency fleet

Executive Mayor Radebe leads a vehicle launch at Emfuleni head office

In a significant move to enhance the firefighting capacity and service delivery, Emfuleni Local Municipality (ELM) has added two brand new grass fire units to its fleet. The vehicles are worth R2 million which forms part of the R4.2 million funding by the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) for the 2023/2024 financial year.

The vehicles were officially launched by the Executive Mayor, Cllr. Sipho Radebe and the MMC for Public Safety, Cllr. Ndade Mokoena at the municipal head office today. Radebe emphasized the importance of maintaining the vehicles, prevent wear and tear, and ensuring that they always operate at optimum capacity.

“I stand before you proud of this latest addition to our fleet considering that the two grass fire units will vastly boost our firefighting efforts. I am happy about the work the Public Safety Department is doing under the strong leadership of MMC Mokoena, it is only fitting to say that the lives and properties of our residents are in good hands as emergency services in the municipality improve for the better.” Radebe said.

ELM Acting Chief Fire Officer, Mr. Moloi Jacob Ngubeni expressed his joy and described the launch as a momentous occasion for the Emfuleni Fire and Rescue Services. Other than the two Land-Cruisers, the department also secured an air compressor worth half a million, two sets of jaws of life worth a million and a TETRA radio system that is compatible with the South African Police Services (SAPS) radio frequency.

Highlighting the importance of this acquisition, Ngubeni said the municipality now has a notable fleet that will improve emergency response time.

“We are ramping up emergency services capacity to service the people of Emfuleni as rightfully expected. With the addition of these two vehicles, our running fleet now boasts five grass fire units and three fire engines. A fourth fire engine will join the running fleet as soon as the necessary paperwork is completed.” Ngubeni said.