10/08/2026
🚨 SARZA FS | NEWBIE TRAINING🚨
This weekend, our newest SARZA members got a real taste of what it means to — with a full day of practical training, teamwork, navigation and recovery skills.
📍 The day started at our RV Point with a detailed briefing, followed by navigation exercises and convoy-driving training. Communication, vehicle spacing, route awareness and safe convoy procedures were put into practice before the team headed out.
🛞 TYRE & PUNCTURE REPAIR TRAINING
Our next stop was At The Park Wheels, where Bruce and his team welcomed our newbies and provided an extremely informative hands-on session covering:
🔧 Puncture repair
🛞 Different tyre and wheel types
🔄 Wheel rotation
⚠️ Safe tyre practices
🚙 General tyre awareness for off-road operations
A huge thank you to Bruce and the team for taking the time to share their knowledge with our members!
From there, the convoy headed towards Doringbos Venues where the newbies had to put their newly acquired knowledge to the test during a practical bush tyre-repair simulation.
No shortcuts
Do it the SARZA way.
🤝 KNOWLEDGE SHARING & TEAMWORK
A special mention must also go to our experienced RQ and MIT+ members, who assisted throughout the training day and generously shared their knowledge, experience and practical skills with our newest members.
At SARZA, training isn't just about learning from a manual — it's about learning from those who have been there, sharing experience and building the next generation of capable volunteers.
🧰 RECOVERY TRAINING
The team then moved on to our recovery training site, where the focus shifted to safe and effective vehicle recovery.
Every newbie got hands-on experience with:
🔗 Recovery rigging
🪢 Correct equipment setup
🔄 Resetting and re-rigging
📻 Radio communication
🚨 Safety procedures
🚙 Driver responsibilities
🪝 Winch operator responsibilities
🦺 Safety Officer responsibilities
Each role was explained, demonstrated and then practised by every new member — repeatedly — until everyone was confident with the correct procedures.
One of the biggest lessons of the day was simple:
A recovery is only successful when everyone gets home safely.
To drive that message home, our SARZA team finished the training with several failed-recovery scenarios, demonstrating just how quickly an incorrectly planned or poorly communicated recovery can become dangerous.
The goal was never simply to teach our members how to recover a vehicle.
The goal was to teach them how to THINK before starting a recovery.
👏 A MASSIVE THANK YOU TO:
🛞 Bruce and the team At The Park Wheels Langenhoven Park for welcoming us and setting aside their valuable time to educate our newbies on tyre safety and repair.
🌿 Doringbos Venuess for allowing SARZA FS the use of the grounds for our practical training.
🤝 Our RQ and MIT+ members for assisting with the training, sharing their experience and helping our newest members develop the skills and confidence they need.
And, of course, a big well done to all our SARZA FS newbies for putting in the effort, asking questions, getting their hands dirty and embracing every challenge thrown at them.
This is how we build capable volunteers.
This is how we share knowledge.
This is how we build a team.
This is how we Train to Respond.
🇿🇦 SARZA FS — So Others May Live
