Star of hope in response to burst pipe

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RATEPAYERS and business owners have a number of reasons to be concerned with service delivery in our metro. However I would like to convey my sincere thanks and appreciation to the metro and its team for the speedy reaction to a burst municipal main outside my house.

The pipe burst at about 3pm on July 9, we logged a call around 3.30pm to the metro’s call centre and we did a follow-up call after 5pm to check whether we could expect any action any time soon. The call centre official responded that the water services division had just called to confirm the address and she expected them to be on site soon.

By 6.30pm the electrical department team was outside the house with their layout drawings, the water services guys arrived at about 7.30pm.

The team got to work to excavate the pipe. The workers, despite the foul weather, were full of zest, and were extremely polite and great ambassadors for the metro.

Both the labourers were well over 55 and I am sure one may have even been in his 60s, but this did not deter them from jumping in and out of the 1.8m-deep muddy excavation.

The plumber – a father of two young boys and suffering from flu – guided and directed the team without a moan. We woke up the next morning to the sound of the team busy with the backfilling and doing a general clean-up of the site.

Perhaps seeing these guys working through the night recalled memories of my father, also called out at all hours of the night when I was kid, to repair blown-down power lines. These are the real heroes within the metro and we rely so heavily on them to keep our city going.

Thank you to Mr Kleynhans, Mr Ben, Mr Ziqula and Mr Howe, of the metro, and to Mr Nabe and Mr Matthysen, of Triple L Plant Hire.

On Tuesday morning just after 9am I received a call from the metro’s call centre enquiring as to whether the repair had been done – I was overwhelmed. A big thanks to the call centre guys too.

There are many positives to be taken from this event:

• Well done to the metro’s systems for working – the response was professional and efficient;
• Well done to the team who despite their age and having family at home were prepared to work through the cold and wet night to do the repair;
• Thank you to their families for allowing them out all through the night to help the greater city;
• Thank you to the metro for supporting private enterprise through the hire of private company plant to help excavate and cart away; and
• Thank you for allowing us an opportunity to give something back by serving the guys with some coffee and breakfast in the morning.

At a time when morale is very low within the city and within the country with regard to service delivery, I have seen a shining star of hope. Thank you so very much.