The George Municipality said its critical staff are intimidated, whilst working in the community.
This includes the Electrotechnical Services and Civil Engineering Services (CES) departments, responsible for power and water outages.
High-risk areas identified by the Municipality and the police, are the Nelson Mandela Boulevard near the Total Garage, Borchards, Conville, Parkdene and parts of Rosemore.
There staff were harassed, threatened, and even physical attacked, while attempting to resolve urgent electrical issues.
Daniel Greeff, Acting Director of Electrotechnical Services at the George Municipality, said as a result of dangerous conditions, the safety of George Municipality officials attending to after-hours service delivery calls, is under serious review.
“This alarming trend is undermining efforts to provide consistent services across the city, with staff safety becoming a serious concern. The municipality urgently calls on residents to assist in safeguarding officials working in their communities.”
Greef said to mitigate these risks, the municipality has increased the number of personnel assigned to attend service complaints in these areas.
“When working in high-risk areas, we now deploy more staff and additional vehicles. In some cases, we are forced to delay attending to complaints until the next day for safety reasons said. These measures have increased operational costs and delayed response times, but the municipality stresses that staff safety must come first.”
Deon de Jager, Deputy Director of the Civil Engineering Services Directorate, said employees working at pump stations, face similar danger.
“Employees working at pump stations are currently equipped with pepper spray and some stations have emergency panic buttons linked to armed response. However, these measures do not fully eliminate the risks, particularly for staff working alone or in areas without security guards.”
Staff attending to emergencies after-hours at the Municipal plants, reservoirs, and/or pump stations, face the risk of assault or robbery, in Pacaltsdorp, Touwsranten, Wilderness Heights, Die Rus, Thembalethu, Kraaibosch, Herolds Bay, and Oubaai.
Picture: George Municipality