[UPDATE] West Rand has some of the toughest firefighters

The West Rand firefighting team has returned from Cape Town, having proved that they are indeed some of the toughest firefighters alive.

The team competed in the Toughest Fire Fighter Alive competition at Roeland Street Fire Station in Cape Town in September.

Also read:

https://www.citizen.co.za/krugersdorp-news/390767/meet-four-of-the-west-rands-toughest-firefighters/

The team consisted of Manie Gouws, Gift Malejwe, Thato Molefe, Ashley Benson, Thabo Nkoe, Asanda Nomaia and Samson Mokemane.

Gift, Samson, Thabo and Thato won the gold medal in the open relay category, while Manie was part of the team that won the gold in the over-40 relay category.

Manie also took the over-40 toughest firefighter title and was only six second behind the winner of the overall Toughest Fire Fighter, which places him second overall out of the 78 firefighters who competed.

Gift finished third in the open age group for firefighters between the ages of 19 and 29 years.

On 29 September, their supporters held an awards ceremony at the Krugersdorp Fire Station to celebrate their achievements. This was the first time in many years that the West Rand had sent firefighters to compete and they showed that they should not be underestimated.

Also read:

https://www.citizen.co.za/krugersdorp-news/388582/watch-does-krugersdorp-have-the-toughest-firefighter/

Manie thanked the Lord and the wives of the firefighters for their support. He also said thank you to Gerhardt Nieuwoudt, the Regional Commander of Mogale City’s Emergency Services for allowing them to train at the station.

“To the team – you were excellent. Congratulations on the gold medal, you deserve it,” Manie said.

Gerhard said that at competitions like these no one ever expects the small stations to be good, but given the short length of time that the men had to train, they did very well. He echoed that the next team to compete will be much better prepared.

“As long as we are here, we will support the firefighters who want to go and participate in these competitions,” he exclaimed.

Sadly, the Tuesday before the men left for the competition, there were still no funds to send them, but their families and friends jumped in in the end to donate and send them to the competition.

The next competition is in two years’ time, which gives the men and women plenty of time to plan and prepare so that they can bring home all the gold medals next time.