Thulamela Municipality's Ramushwana Fire Station recently received a boost when firefighting equipment worth thousands of rands was handed over to them.

The equipment came as a result of a memorandum of understanding signed between Santam, SALGA and the Department of Cooperative Governance.

The equipment is a donation by Santam through the Business-Adopt-A-Municipality initiative, a strategic partnership between the three parties, which identified five municipalities countrywide for capacity building in disaster risk management.

The official handing over was held at the Ramushwana Fire Station at Muledane.

A demonstration was held by officers from the Ramushwana Fire Station. The chief fire officer, Mr Mmbangiseni Tshivhase, said the donation came as a blessing to them. “We are operating in a very vast area with many villages. This means we should have more resources and campaigns. The tools we received today will serve as a boost to us,” he said.

Mr John Melville, risk services executive head at Santam said the country experienced devastation last year, with numerous catastrophes that were unprecedented in their frequency and severity, and fire was a key element. “We value the need to develop meaningful ways of working with local government institutions to help communities deal with increasing risks,” he said.

Two local schools, Maphophe and Khubvi Primary School, also received R25 000 each. They will also be receiving training in firefighting.