André Marx, the principal for West Rand District Municipality (WRDM) Training Academy said it has been his passion to inspire and impart structural firefighting and life-saving skills to participants in the programme.

Working on Fire (WoF) is an expanded public works programme funded by the Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries. André is committed to changing the lives of his firefighters for the better.

I am aging, and transferring skills and knowledge to young people is at the centre of what I do best and love. We wish to extend it to the rest of the WRDM’s WoF teams,’’ he said.

Thus far he trained 11 firefighters in search and rescue. He finds the young aspirant structural firefighters’ dedication and hunger to learn quite amazing.

‘‘As principal of the academy I saw a need and importance to empower young people from our communities with the right set of skills.’’

If he had his way, he would employ them.

They have been very instrumental in ensuring communities are protected from veld fires.”

He continued to say that some WoF programme firefighters did not have sufficient funds to do structural firefighting, search and rescue courses.

“I am proud to say that young people in the Wedela and Carletonville teams benefited from the courses we presented to them for the past year. This is the little I was able to contribute to their personal development and growth.”

He concluded by saying this was in line with the Thuma Mina project – which President Cyril Ramaphosa introduced to improve service delivery with the help of South Africans.