As part of AFB Makhado’s 21st birthday celebrations, the base had the opportunity to host the air force’s annual Fire Drill Competition from April 14 until 18. Not only did they host it, they also emerged as overall winners of the competition.

There were six other teams throughout the SA Air Force who participated in the competition, with AFB Makhado competing against, amongst others, AFB Waterkloof who finished second and AFB Langebaan who came third.

The teams were evaluated in 10 different categories. AFB Makhado took top honours and finished first in the categories for hose laying drill (team); obstacle drill (team); one-man hose drill (Cpl T J Mhangwane); toughest firefighter: male under 35 (Cpl L N Noko); toughest firefighter: male over 35 (Cpl T S Muswobi); and a vehicle drill called alley docking (Sgt A F Humphries). They also took second place in the categories for toughest platoon (team) and toughest firefighter: female (Sgt B van der Westhuizen), while being fourth in the high-angle event. Sgt B van der Westhuizen from AFB Makhado was selected as the best firefighter in this event.

Four members from AFB Makhado were also chosen for the SAAF Fire and Rescue Drill Team. It is exceptional to be chosen for the national SAAF Team.

The team who competed in the drill competition thanked all the ABF Makhado members for their support during the competition and also their sponsors, namely AMG, Coca-Cola Fortune, SAB, Pick ‘n Pay, 515 Squadron, PMC, Ms Joyce Jansen and Formscaff (Polokwane).