Staff often have to work on outages at night
The City of Cape Town (CoCT) says its Water and Sanitation staff have been the victims of 22 hijackings and 52 robberies since July 1, last year.
Of the hijackings, seven were in Khayelitsha, six in Philippi and three in Mfuleni.
Of the robberies, 16 were at gunpoint.
Six robberies occurred in Khayelitsha, three each in Blue Downs and Philippi, and two each in Strand, Gugulethu, Fisantekraal, Athlone and Bishop Lavis.
Stolen items include cellphones, watches, 12 meter-reading devices, 14 tablets, and personal protection equipment essential for field operations.
The city notes that this situation has seen it spending more than R8.5-million on private security escorts in the 2023/24 financial year.
In April, however, two security contractors escorting city staff in Philippi’s Phola Park community were shot and killed.
On May 17, one of two private security escorts who were guarding a sewer pump station in Athlone while an electrical contractor was working at the facility, was also shot and killed in the area.
“Collaboration with the community is vital,” says CoCT Water and Sanitation MMC Zahid Badroodien.
“We urge residents, businesses and community leaders to help support our efforts to ensure safe working conditions for our teams.”