{"id":50162,"date":"2023-04-11T09:36:25","date_gmt":"2023-04-11T07:36:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/safety-officials-pull-their-weight-20230410\/"},"modified":"2025-03-19T20:48:47","modified_gmt":"2025-03-19T18:48:47","slug":"safety-officials-pull-their-weight-20230410","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/safety-officials-pull-their-weight-20230410\/","title":{"rendered":"Safety officials pull their weight at inter-departmental fitness challenge"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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 \u2013 and the mayor of Cape Town \u2013 came together to test their mettle in the fire and rescue service\u2019s domain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Friday 24 March, the City of Cape Town\u2019s safety and security directorate hosted its first inter-departmental fitness challenge at Goodwood Fire Station.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2019s pulley (simulated fly hoist), and then lowering the first ladder, within 60 seconds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>

<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The last task saw them dragging an 80 kg mannequin \u2013 or in this case a tractor tyre \u00ad\u00ad\u2013 for 11 m around a marker and back to the start for a total of 22 m within 60 seconds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The competitors\u2019 overall times for each task were then combined to determine the top scorers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fun, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, the competitors seemed to think so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Law enforcement officer Bridget Daniso came second among the women with a time of 5 min 38 seconds. Fire and rescue\u2019s Thobeka Senatase (5 min 09 seconds) and Yonela Pokolo (5 min 45 seconds) were first and third, respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Daniso describes the event as both enjoyable and challenging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She says she would like to see more of these kinds of inter-departmental events taking place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Traffic officer Charles Mcleod says the toughest part for him was dragging the 80 kg \u201cmannequin\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou need a specific technique to drag it faster.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clocking in at 2 min 44 seconds, Mcleod came third among the men, with fire services\u2019 Alno Kroon (2 min 28 seconds) and Siyabonga Radebe (2 min 38 seconds) in first and second place, respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mcleod, who is based in Green Point, says it was a great opportunity to interact with the fire services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI 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 \u2013 I did not know that at the time. That type of excellence requires dedication and hard work. Big respect to our firefighters,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

VIP Protection Services\u2019 Piet Shirinde says his two favourite exercises were step up and charged hose drag.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shirinde, who is based in the Cape Town CBD, says the \u201cphenomenal day\u201d helped the departments to build new bridges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis opened a whole new interaction between us as participants and senior management, building new bonds and trust with them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>

<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Metro Police\u2019s Const Diego Coopstad, who is based in Philippi, says he left the event with even greater respect for his colleagues in fire services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joining in the \u201cfestivities\u201d was Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis who completed the course \u201cin a respectable time\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m quite proud that I was even able to complete the course. I\u2019m (getting) fit for office,\u201d Hill-Lewis says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, he adds, he was even more proud to see the City\u2019s servicemen and women.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCapetonians 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,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 \u2013 and the mayor of Cape Town \u2013 came together to test their mettle in the fire and rescue s<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":50168,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_linkdex":"","_yoast_wpseo_content_score":"","_yoast_wpseo_inclusive_language_score":"","_yoast_wpseo_is_cornerstone":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-title":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-description":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-image":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-image-id":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-title":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-description":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-image":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-image-id":"","newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","_crsspst_to_novanewscoza":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozabloemnewsexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozacityvision":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozadistrictmailhelderberg":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaeikestadnuus":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozahermanustimes":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozakomani-karoo":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozakougaexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozamthathaexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozanoordkaapbulletin":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozapaarlpost":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozapeexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaswartlandgazette":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozatygerburger":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaudexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozavistanews":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozavrystaatkroon":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaweskusnuus":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaweslander":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaworcesterstandard":false,"_EventAllDay":"","_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":"","_EventShowMapLink":"","_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":"","_EventVenueID":"","_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":"","_VenueShowMapLink":"","_application":"","_batch_id":"","_company_name":"","_company_tagline":"","_company_twitter":"","_company_video":"","_company_website":"","_custom_id":"e7fe6e02-3354-4610-ac41-dad4820f8035","_EventDuration":"","_EventOrigin":"","_EventTimezoneAbbr":"","_featured":"","_filled":"","_job_expires":"","_job_location":"","_media_credit":"","_media_credit_url":"","_menu_item_menu_item_parent":"","_menu_item_object":"","_menu_item_object_id":"","_menu_item_target":"","_menu_item_type":"","_menu_item_url":"","_menu_item_xfn":"","_navis_media_can_distribute":"","_navis_media_credit_org":"","_OrganizerOrigin":"","_provider":"","_pum_built_in":"","_pum_default_theme":"","_pum_form_conversion_count":"","_remote_id":"","_remote_name":"","_remote_position":"","_report_frequency":"","_report_reference_dates":"","_send_attempts":"","_site_id":"","_sitemap_exclude":"","_sitemap_frequency":"","_sitemap_priority":"","_source_url":"","_subscription_period":"","_subscription_period_interval":"","_subscription_price":"","_tec_slr_enabled":"","_tec_slr_layout":"","_template_type":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_ticket_start_date":"","_tribe_aggregator_allow_multiple_organizers":"","_tribe_aggregator_content_type":"","_tribe_aggregator_file":"","_tribe_aggregator_finalized":"","_tribe_aggregator_hash":"","_tribe_aggregator_import_id":"","_tribe_aggregator_import_name":"","_tribe_aggregator_interactive":"","_tribe_aggregator_origin":"","_tribe_aggregator_post_status":"","_tribe_aggregator_preview":"","_tribe_aggregator_source_name":"","_tribe_aggregator_type":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_hide_attendees_list":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":"","_tribe_ticket_version":"","_type":"","_VenueOrigin":"","_wp_attachment_context":"","_wp_attachment_image_alt":"","_wp_font_face_file":"","_wp_old_date":"","_yoast_wpseo_estimated-reading-time-minutes":"","_yoast_wpseo_focuskeywords":"","_yoast_wpseo_focuskw_text_input":"","_yoast_wpseo_keywordsynonyms":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_block-catalog":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_job_listing_type":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_nova_retailer":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_publication":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_tribe_events_cat":"","_yoast_wpseo_videositemap-duration":"","_yoast_wpseo_videositemap-rating":"","_menu_item_classes":[],"_tribe_modified_fields":[],"_wp_attachment_backup_sizes":[],"_wp_suggested_privacy_policy_content":[],"_yoast_post_redirect_info":[],"_yoast_wpseo_video_meta":[],"activation_date":"","archive_insertion_is_repeating":"","archive_insertion_posts_count":"","article_feature_media":"","article_feature_type":"","article_main_image_caption":"","article_media_icon":"","article_template":"","author_byline":"Nettalie Viljoen (@nettalieviljoen)","background_color":"","block_editor":"","byline":"","cmplz_hide_cookiebanner":"","competition_end_date":"","contact_advertise_email":"","contact_advertise_phone":"","contact_editorial_email":"","contact_general_email":"","contact_general_phone":"","contact_office_hours":"","contact_physical_address":"","enabled":"","featured_image_custom_caption":"","featured_video_url":"","fields":"","font_body":"","font_header":"","frequency":"","headline":"","hide_border":"","icon":"","is_wp_suggestion":"","issuu_download_url":"","issuu_embed_url":"","language_version_url":"","large_border":"","name":"","nm_contact_name":"","nm_contact_number":"","nm_date_lost":"","no_overlay_background":"","node-url":"","obituary_born_date":"","obituary_died_date":"","obituary_memoriam_text":"","origin":"","overlay_color":"","overlay_opacity":"","overlay_size":"","placement":"","plural_label":"","post_author":"","post_id":"","post_language":"en","secret-key":"","sponsored_utm_campaign":"","sponsored_utm_content":"","sponsored_utm_medium":"","sponsored_utm_source":"","sponsored_utm_term":"","start_date":"","utm_suppression":"","video_embed_url":"","wp_pattern_sync_status":"","data_version":[],"enclosure":[],"pongrass_image":[],"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_newspack_byline_active":false,"_newspack_byline":"","newspack_content_restriction_is_exempt":false,"scaip_prevent_shortcode_addition":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"publication":[],"class_list":["post-50162","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nSafety officials pull their weight at inter-departmental fitness challenge | People's Post<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/safety-officials-pull-their-weight-20230410\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Safety officials pull their weight at inter-departmental fitness challenge\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"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 \u2013 and the mayor of Cape Town \u2013 came together to test their mettle in the fire and rescue s\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/safety-officials-pull-their-weight-20230410\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"People's Post\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/PeoplesPostNewsPaper\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-04-11T07:36:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-03-19T18:48:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/9c75d776ff2f45ecb6a032f715e92921.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Nettalie Viljoen (@nettalieviljoen)\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@thepeoplespost\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@thepeoplespost\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"People's Post\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/peoplespost\\\/safety-officials-pull-their-weight-20230410\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/peoplespost\\\/safety-officials-pull-their-weight-20230410\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"People's Post\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/peoplespost\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a55ab3f8723ad7eb7c816b50d6f060e0\"},\"headline\":\"Safety officials pull their weight at inter-departmental fitness challenge\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-04-11T07:36:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-03-19T18:48:47+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/peoplespost\\\/safety-officials-pull-their-weight-20230410\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":888,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/peoplespost\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/peoplespost\\\/safety-officials-pull-their-weight-20230410\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/peoplespost\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/03\\\/9c75d776ff2f45ecb6a032f715e92921.jpeg\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-ZA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/peoplespost\\\/safety-officials-pull-their-weight-20230410\\\/#respond\"]}],\"copyrightYear\":\"2023\",\"copyrightHolder\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/peoplespost\\\/#organization\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/peoplespost\\\/safety-officials-pull-their-weight-20230410\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/peoplespost\\\/safety-officials-pull-their-weight-20230410\\\/\",\"name\":\"Safety officials pull their weight at inter-departmental fitness challenge | People's Post\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/peoplespost\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/peoplespost\\\/safety-officials-pull-their-weight-20230410\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/peoplespost\\\/safety-officials-pull-their-weight-20230410\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/peoplespost\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/03\\\/9c75d776ff2f45ecb6a032f715e92921.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-04-11T07:36:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-03-19T18:48:47+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/peoplespost\\\/safety-officials-pull-their-weight-20230410\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-ZA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/peoplespost\\\/safety-officials-pull-their-weight-20230410\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-ZA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/peoplespost\\\/safety-officials-pull-their-weight-20230410\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/peoplespost\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/03\\\/9c75d776ff2f45ecb6a032f715e92921.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/peoplespost\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/03\\\/9c75d776ff2f45ecb6a032f715e92921.jpeg\",\"width\":1920,\"height\":1080,\"caption\":\"Seven teams from five departments within the City of Cape Town\u2019s directorate faced off in a series of tasks, designed to promote physical fitness and a bit of friendly competition on Friday 24 March.PHOTO:\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/peoplespost\\\/safety-officials-pull-their-weight-20230410\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/peoplespost\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/peoplespost\\\/news\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Safety officials pull their weight at inter-departmental fitness challenge\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/peoplespost\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/peoplespost\\\/\",\"name\":\"People's Post\",\"description\":\"To Inform, Engage and Empower Local Communities\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/peoplespost\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/peoplespost\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-ZA\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/peoplespost\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Peoples Post\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/peoplespost\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-ZA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/peoplespost\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/peoplespost\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/03\\\/peoples-post-site-icon.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/peoplespost\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/03\\\/peoples-post-site-icon.png\",\"width\":512,\"height\":512,\"caption\":\"Peoples Post\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/peoplespost\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/PeoplesPostNewsPaper\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/thepeoplespost\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/peoplespostnewspaper\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/@peoplespostnewsCPT\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/peoplespost\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a55ab3f8723ad7eb7c816b50d6f060e0\",\"name\":\"People's Post\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-ZA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/7ea284cb64e6d80623a001a22682bdd8e89e02e917c1f92b662fe747122e799b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/7ea284cb64e6d80623a001a22682bdd8e89e02e917c1f92b662fe747122e799b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/7ea284cb64e6d80623a001a22682bdd8e89e02e917c1f92b662fe747122e799b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"People's Post\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/novanews.co.za\\\/peoplespost\\\/author\\\/peoplespost\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Safety officials pull their weight at inter-departmental fitness challenge | People's Post","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/safety-officials-pull-their-weight-20230410\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Safety officials pull their weight at inter-departmental fitness challenge","og_description":"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 \u2013 and the mayor of Cape Town \u2013 came together to test their mettle in the fire and rescue s","og_url":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/safety-officials-pull-their-weight-20230410\/","og_site_name":"People's Post","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/PeoplesPostNewsPaper","article_published_time":"2023-04-11T07:36:25+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-03-19T18:48:47+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1920,"height":1080,"url":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/9c75d776ff2f45ecb6a032f715e92921.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Nettalie Viljoen (@nettalieviljoen)","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@thepeoplespost","twitter_site":"@thepeoplespost","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"People's Post","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/safety-officials-pull-their-weight-20230410\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/safety-officials-pull-their-weight-20230410\/"},"author":{"name":"People's Post","@id":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/#\/schema\/person\/a55ab3f8723ad7eb7c816b50d6f060e0"},"headline":"Safety officials pull their weight at inter-departmental fitness challenge","datePublished":"2023-04-11T07:36:25+00:00","dateModified":"2025-03-19T18:48:47+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/safety-officials-pull-their-weight-20230410\/"},"wordCount":888,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/safety-officials-pull-their-weight-20230410\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/9c75d776ff2f45ecb6a032f715e92921.jpeg","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-ZA","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/safety-officials-pull-their-weight-20230410\/#respond"]}],"copyrightYear":"2023","copyrightHolder":{"@id":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/#organization"}},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/safety-officials-pull-their-weight-20230410\/","url":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/safety-officials-pull-their-weight-20230410\/","name":"Safety officials pull their weight at inter-departmental fitness challenge | People's Post","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/safety-officials-pull-their-weight-20230410\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/safety-officials-pull-their-weight-20230410\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/9c75d776ff2f45ecb6a032f715e92921.jpeg","datePublished":"2023-04-11T07:36:25+00:00","dateModified":"2025-03-19T18:48:47+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/safety-officials-pull-their-weight-20230410\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-ZA","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/safety-officials-pull-their-weight-20230410\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-ZA","@id":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/safety-officials-pull-their-weight-20230410\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/9c75d776ff2f45ecb6a032f715e92921.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/9c75d776ff2f45ecb6a032f715e92921.jpeg","width":1920,"height":1080,"caption":"Seven teams from five departments within the City of Cape Town\u2019s directorate faced off in a series of tasks, designed to promote physical fitness and a bit of friendly competition on Friday 24 March.PHOTO:"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/safety-officials-pull-their-weight-20230410\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Safety officials pull their weight at inter-departmental fitness challenge"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/#website","url":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/","name":"People's Post","description":"To Inform, Engage and Empower Local Communities","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-ZA"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/#organization","name":"Peoples Post","url":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-ZA","@id":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/peoples-post-site-icon.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/peoples-post-site-icon.png","width":512,"height":512,"caption":"Peoples Post"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/PeoplesPostNewsPaper","https:\/\/x.com\/thepeoplespost","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/peoplespostnewspaper\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@peoplespostnewsCPT"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/#\/schema\/person\/a55ab3f8723ad7eb7c816b50d6f060e0","name":"People's Post","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-ZA","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7ea284cb64e6d80623a001a22682bdd8e89e02e917c1f92b662fe747122e799b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7ea284cb64e6d80623a001a22682bdd8e89e02e917c1f92b662fe747122e799b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7ea284cb64e6d80623a001a22682bdd8e89e02e917c1f92b662fe747122e799b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"People's Post"},"url":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/author\/peoplespost\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/9c75d776ff2f45ecb6a032f715e92921.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":46256,"url":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/gallery-cape-town-unites-to-honour-firefighters-on-international-firefighters-day-20240507\/","url_meta":{"origin":50162,"position":0},"title":"GALLERY | Cape Town unites to honour firefighters on International Firefighters\u2019 Day","author":"People's Post","date":"7 May 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"The City\u2019s Fire and Rescue Service called, and Cape Town answered. Thousands of people turned out at the International Firefighters\u2019 Day commemoration at Athlone Stadium on Saturday 4 May.","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/60a150b84b484491ab16affec93cfe37.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/60a150b84b484491ab16affec93cfe37.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/60a150b84b484491ab16affec93cfe37.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/60a150b84b484491ab16affec93cfe37.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/60a150b84b484491ab16affec93cfe37.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/60a150b84b484491ab16affec93cfe37.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":300044,"url":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/shoprite-and-cape-town-firefighters-bring-easter-cheer-to-children\/","url_meta":{"origin":50162,"position":1},"title":"Shoprite and Cape Town firefighters bring Easter cheer to children","author":"People's Post","date":"5 April 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Shoprite and Cape Town Fire Service donated Easter treats and care items to 275 vulnerable children across four Western Cape childcare homes.","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The partnership between Shoprite and the City of Cape Town's Fire and Rescue Service brings together Easter donations.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Screenshot2026-04-_54169.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Screenshot2026-04-_54169.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Screenshot2026-04-_54169.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Screenshot2026-04-_54169.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Screenshot2026-04-_54169.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":302034,"url":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/hundreds-of-incidents-as-major-storm-batters-cape-town\/","url_meta":{"origin":50162,"position":2},"title":"Hundreds of incidents as major storm batters Cape Town","author":"TygerBurger","date":"11 May 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Cape Town's Safety Directorates are responding to numerous weather-related incidents post-storm, coordinating disaster operations and traffic enforcement amid public safety concerns.","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/CityofCapeTownDOC_39893.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/CityofCapeTownDOC_39893.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/CityofCapeTownDOC_39893.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/CityofCapeTownDOC_39893.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/CityofCapeTownDOC_39893.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":300360,"url":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/easter-period-sees-a-spike-in-formal-and-decrease-in-informal-residential-fires\/","url_meta":{"origin":50162,"position":3},"title":"Easter period sees a spike in formal, and decrease in informal residential fires","author":"TygerBurger","date":"9 April 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Cape Town experienced an increase in residential fires over Easter, with formal incidents rising from 12 to 30 compared to last year.","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Fire and Rescue Service","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Fire-and-Rescue-Service-3.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Fire-and-Rescue-Service-3.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Fire-and-Rescue-Service-3.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Fire-and-Rescue-Service-3.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Fire-and-Rescue-Service-3.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":301937,"url":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/cableway-charity-challenge-returns-to-table-mountain\/","url_meta":{"origin":50162,"position":4},"title":"Cableway Charity Challenge returns to Table Mountain","author":"Kaylynne Bantom","date":"7 May 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Runners and hikers return to Table Mountain on 9 May for the Cableway Charity Challenge, raising funds for key Western Cape organisations.","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Cableway Charity Challenge","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Charity-Challenge-medal.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Charity-Challenge-medal.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Charity-Challenge-medal.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Charity-Challenge-medal.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":301601,"url":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/cape-town-firefighter-inspires-on-international-firefighters-day\/","url_meta":{"origin":50162,"position":5},"title":"Cape Town firefighter inspires on International Firefighters’ Day","author":"Kaylynne Bantom","date":"4 May 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Seat\u2019s story reflects the reality behind the statistics: thousands of emergency callouts each year and the people who show up every time it matters most.","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Firefighter, Firdous Seat and her newborn nephew she helped deliver in March this year.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/JkbBirth-2.docx.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/JkbBirth-2.docx.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/JkbBirth-2.docx.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/JkbBirth-2.docx.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/JkbBirth-2.docx.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/JkbBirth-2.docx.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]}],"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"People's Post","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50162","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50162"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50162\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50168"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50162"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50162"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50162"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=50162"},{"taxonomy":"publication","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/publication?post=50162"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}