Over the past week, Kouga Municipality's executive mayor Hattingh Bornman was at the forefront of fighting devastating fires that tore through thousands of hectares of land. A volunteer firefighter since the age of 16, he recalls how the fires showed him the South Africa we all want come to life.

For the past week, Kouga Local Municipality's executive mayor Hattingh Bornman has not slept much. Raging veld fires broke out in his municipality, fuelled by unbearably hot weather and strong winds, destroying thousands of hectares of farmland, some houses and infrastructure.

Soon, the videos he made to update residents - with his deputy mayor Timothy Jantjies working as the occasional cameraman - went viral. The man cracking jokes with the firefighters, providing updates and keeping everyone calm, from residents and visitors to the busy holiday towns, soon became a favourite.

"This is Enrico," he said in one video, pointing at a fireman covered in ash.

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"Enrico is one of our senior firefighters, and he usually looks much better when he comes to work," Bornman said to widespread laughter among the tired emergency responders. In another, he and Jantjies got drenched by water from the bomber plane. "Well, that is a free shower," he laughed.

Bornman said he did only what he could to help.

"My role was to tell people what was going on, but I also wanted to see what the fires looked like."

At one stage, he was even directing traffic.

Himself a firefighter since high school, he...