Quite a few cheers of encouragement and even more grunts of effort were heard when Metro Police, law enforcement officers, traffic services, VIP services staff – and the mayor of Cape Town – came together to test their mettle in the fire and rescue service’s domain.
On Friday 24 March, the City of Cape Town’s safety and security directorate hosted its first inter-departmental fitness challenge at Goodwood Fire Station.
Seven teams from the five departments faced off in a series of tasks, designed to promote physical fitness and a bit of friendly competition. Competitors were required to complete five tasks: step up, charged hose drag and pull, ladder raise and extension, equipment carry, forcible entry and rescue drag.
The first required them to complete 30 repetitions of stepping up and down a 200 mm high platform, while carrying a high-rise pack/hose bundle of two lengths of hose, weighing 20 kilograms, within 90 seconds.
During the second challenge, competitors had to drag a charged 45 mm line for 27 m, and then pull the remainder of the line a further 15 m, within 180 seconds.
Ladder raise and extension required raising a seven to eight metres aluminium ladder and then immediately hoisting a 35 kg drum until it touched the ladder’s pulley (simulated fly hoist), and then lowering the first ladder, within 60 seconds.
During the equipment carry task, competitors had to pick up two foam drums (weighing 25 kg each) and carry the drums for 25 m around a beacon and back, setting them down on a 1,2 m high stand, within 60 seconds.
Simulating forcible entry, they next had to hit a tyre (22,5 inch x 146 mm x 150 mm) with a 6 kg sledgehammer over a distance of 60 cm within 60 seconds.
The last task saw them dragging an 80 kg mannequin – or in this case a tractor tyre – for 11 m around a marker and back to the start for a total of 22 m within 60 seconds.
The competitors’ overall times for each task were then combined to determine the top scorers.
Fun, right?
Well, the competitors seemed to think so.
Law enforcement officer Bridget Daniso came second among the women with a time of 5 min 38 seconds. Fire and rescue’s Thobeka Senatase (5 min 09 seconds) and Yonela Pokolo (5 min 45 seconds) were first and third, respectively.
Daniso describes the event as both enjoyable and challenging.
“No matter how busy my schedule is, I always find time to go to the gym because I know my work requires me to stay fit.”
She says she would like to see more of these kinds of inter-departmental events taking place.
“It had a spirit of teamwork and comradeship as my team members were cheering me on. The competition also gave us a chance to rely on each other as our work requires us to do so.”
Traffic officer Charles Mcleod says the toughest part for him was dragging the 80 kg “mannequin”.
“You need a specific technique to drag it faster.”
Clocking in at 2 min 44 seconds, Mcleod came third among the men, with fire services’ Alno Kroon (2 min 28 seconds) and Siyabonga Radebe (2 min 38 seconds) in first and second place, respectively.
Mcleod, who is based in Green Point, says it was a great opportunity to interact with the fire services.
“I went head-to-head with the fittest fireman (Kroon) in the City of Cape Town and he is the second fittest fireman in the world – I did not know that at the time. That type of excellence requires dedication and hard work. Big respect to our firefighters,” he says.
VIP Protection Services’ Piet Shirinde says his two favourite exercises were step up and charged hose drag.
“My legs have been a key point of concentration during my preparation for the fitness challenge. However, the equipment carry and rescue drag were the most difficult as they required a lot of arm strength.”
Shirinde, who is based in the Cape Town CBD, says the “phenomenal day” helped the departments to build new bridges.
“This opened a whole new interaction between us as participants and senior management, building new bonds and trust with them.”
Metro Police trainee Leon Wagner, who is based at the training academy in Observatory, says, for him, the ladder raise and extension was the most challenging exercise. He says the event underscored the importance and necessity of all agencies within safety and security having a certain level of physical and mental strength to perform their duties effectively.
Metro Police’s Const Diego Coopstad, who is based in Philippi, says he left the event with even greater respect for his colleagues in fire services.
“I take my hat off for the firefighters as they did it with their full gear on, which actually shows their true physical fitness. They did well with the full gear, so I can only imagine how they would have done without full gear on.”
Joining in the “festivities” was Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis who completed the course “in a respectable time”.
“I’m quite proud that I was even able to complete the course. I’m (getting) fit for office,” Hill-Lewis says.
But, he adds, he was even more proud to see the City’s servicemen and women.
“Capetonians can know our fire service, Metro Police, traffic services, law enforcement and disaster management staff are ready to chase criminals, save lives and do their best for you,” he says.
