Women ready to take the plunge

BARBERTON – Thirty-two women are set to make their mark in the male-dominated world of firefighting after being certified as advance firefighters.

They recently graduated at a ceremony in Nelspruit after completing a six-week advance training course at the Working on Fire (WoF) training academy.

WoF is the brainchild of the water and environmental affairs ministry aimed at grooming firefighters and preventing veld fires.
Among the thrilled graduates who met the requirements of the all female crew leader course was Doris Hlabathi (26) of Emjindini.

Hlabathi said during the course they had to perform various exercises to ensure they were physically strong and able to cope in this strenuous work environment. “As women we have learned there is no career specially designated for men,” said Hlabathi.

The graduation was attended by Rejoice Mabudafhasi, deputy minister of water and environmental affairs and Pinky Phosa, MEC for economic development, environment and tourism.
Phosa said men who didn’t accept change were in trouble as women were repositioning themselves in society. “This initiative is part of our government’s plan to create more leadership opportunities for women,” said Phosa.

The all-female crew-leader course has been specifically designed to provide intensive training to women and teach them fire-line supervision skills and critical health and safety procedures.
It enables them to become a motivated crew who can operate safely and efficiently and provides leadership skills which gives them the ability to lead a professional firefighting team in dangerous and unpredictable environments.

In addition to this, it educates women on how to deal and cope with the psychological and emotional challenges of being crew leaders.