{"id":839425,"date":"2025-10-09T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-09T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=839425"},"modified":"2025-10-08T16:48:43","modified_gmt":"2025-10-08T14:48:43","slug":"former-springboks-show-off-fast-growing-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/business\/839425\/former-springboks-show-off-fast-growing-business\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Springboks show off fast-growing business"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Former Springboks John Smit and Wahl Bartmann have highlighted the new service offered by the Fidelity Services Group&#8217;s fire rescue business, SecureFire. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Fidelity Services Group, South Africa\u2019s largest security company, is led by Bartmann, who serves as CEO.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In September, it was announced that the Fidelity Services Group would acquire SSG Holdings, where Smit is CEO. Smit led the Springboks to the 2007 Rugby World Cup as captain.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Founded just over a decade ago, SSG offers security, cleaning, hygiene, and integrated facilities management services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It services customers&nbsp;in the mining, commercial, retail, industrial, and government sectors.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It operates across 14 locations nationwide and has a dedicated workforce of nearly 9,000 employees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Under the terms of the deal, SSG has become a subsidiary of Fidelity and continues to operate under its own brand and leadership team.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The companies said the partnership will transform the nation\u2019s integrated security and emergency services landscape.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The deal also increased Fidelity\u2019s footprint to over 255 locations and its workforce to around 70,000 employees across South Africa.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cBy bringing Fidelity and SSG together, we\u2019ve created South Africa\u2019s most advanced private protection capability,\u201d said Bartmann.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s about much more than business; it\u2019s about national readiness.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Take to the skies <\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><a  data-lightbox=\"post-image\" href=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Wahl-Bartmann-scaled-e1759933602593.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Wahl-Bartmann-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-839427\"\/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>Smit and Bartmann have now teamed up to highlight the new service offered by the recently launched Fidelity SecureFire, a private firefighting service that was launched in 2023. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The former rugby players climbed aboard a fire service hydraulic platform truck, which hoisted them 32 metres above the N1 highway.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The 32-metre hydraulic platform ladder can reach the 10th floor of most buildings, while it also comes with a 400kg-capacity rescue basket.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This expands SecureFire\u2019s ability to rescue people from high-rise and complex urban fires.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The ladder joins SecureFire\u2019s national fleet of 32 fire engines and water tankers, 34&nbsp;Rapid Intervention Units, and 600 first responders across 19 regional offices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>SecureFire has offices in Gauteng, KZN and the Western Cape, with each deployment backed by a Fidelity Fire National Command Centre, which can provide real-time data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It also offers fire prevention solutions, maintenance and installation contracts, compliance inspections, and digital reporting.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The latest stunt honoured the daily courage of first responders who regularly work at great heights to save lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThere are heroes who climb to these heights every day to save lives. We\u2019re up here to show our absolute commitment to giving them the best equipment and support possible,\u201d said Smit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAs a Springbok, I learned what it means to stand tall under pressure. That\u2019s exactly the mindset needed in emergency services.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>John Smit and Wahl Bartmann have highlighted the new partnership between Fidelity Services Group and  SSG Holdings. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":95,"featured_media":839426,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9872],"tags":[7273,23252,23630],"class_list":["post-839425","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-fidelity","tag-fidelity-securefire","tag-ssg-holdings"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/839425","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/95"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=839425"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/839425\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":839430,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/839425\/revisions\/839430"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/839426"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=839425"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=839425"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=839425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}