Share This Article
There are many City of Cape Town staff who continue to go above and beyond the call of duty to ensure the delivery of basic and essential services to residents.
One of the City’s service champions is Ricardo Galant from Vanguard. He is from the City’s Electricity Generation and Distribution Department and has worked as an electrician for the City for 27 years. He attends to electricity service requests and sometimes dangerous electrical issues across the metro.
‘Working during the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way we perform our duties. Our day to day activities now include regular sanitising and wearing masks, while always being aware of the risk and taking all precautions to keep ourselves and members of the public as safe as possible,’ said Galant.
Galant, who works from the City’s Wynberg electricity depot, said one of the biggest challenges essential workers face is attending to dangerous electrical work in the community with many bystanders who do not adhere to lockdown regulations such as social distancing or wearing masks.
‘Even though our work is challenging, we are proud to be a part of keeping the City’s services running smoothly.
‘We will continue to protect ourselves and others and we urge the community to obey the COVID-19 rules, which will help curb the spread of the virus,’ said Galant.
Mthokozisi Thwala from Gugulethu, who also works from the same depot, is also a true service ambassador. He said despite being worried about his personal safety and the safety of his family, planning and exercising the proper safety protocols make working during these unprecedented times a little easier.
‘Sometimes we are faced with negative comments from members of the public, however most families in the community appreciate the work we do. While our work has many challenges, the team is grateful for the support and constant knowledge sharing of our supervisor Mr Keith Green, who keeps us informed and focused,’ said Thwala.
During the COVID-19 national lockdown period, the City primarily offered services such as tending to network faults and breakdowns, life-threatening situations or emergencies , and repairs that were imperative from a safety perspective.
The City attended to more than 33 420 electricity service requests over the period to date. This included tending to faulty cables, exposed and dangerous wires, instances of no power, major route streetlight outages and other important repairs.
The City was able to attend to these while taking the necessary safety precautions including social distancing, the wearing of masks and regular hand sanitising.
Our members of staff have really gone above and beyond the call of duty in service to all Cape Town’s residents. Their commitment shows how important it is to all do our bit to help get us through this crisis.
Thank you to our essential staff members!
Leave your message.
If you would like to leave a message to our champions like Ricardo Galant and Mthokozisi Thwala, go
Please note that the City may publish comments shared on this platform.