The Sarah Baartman District Municipality received a donation of fire-fighting equipment worth R1.3 m following devastating fires in parts of the region earlier in June.
The donation was made by Santam which has been working in partnership with the municipality since 2015.
Speaking at the handover ceremony in Port Elizabeth on Wednesday, Eastern Cape Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs MEC, Fikile Xasa, said the a partnership between government and business was needed to rebuild and develop municipalities especially after disasters.
Xasa also commended communities for coming together during and following the devastating fires in parts of Sarah Baartman District and the Garden Route.
He said that the destruction caused by the fires around George, Knysna and the Garden Route have led to an understanding that we are "one nation".
The District's Executive Mayor, Khunjuzwa Kekana, said the equipment would be handed over to all seven local municipalities.
The Mayor said that the Sarah Baartman municipality now had a duty to come up with plans to make sure that it improves response times when natural disasters occur.
Meanwhile, The Kouga municipalty will on Friday report to the National and Provincial Disaster Management on how they plan to get back on their feet.
Speaking at the Santam fire equipment handover, Executive Mayor, Elza van Lingen, said they have been meeting with the disaster management teams for the past couple of weeks after Council made a local disaster declaration.
Van Lingen said the municipality was grateful to Santam for the equipment they had donated after inviting Sanlam's Temba Mvusi to visit the Kouga Municipality after the fire disaster.
