Bad governance costs lives

We ward councillors reckon we are in the frontline of the service delivery struggle. Yet there is another level where physical danger is more prevalent.

- Martin Williams

On Monday morning, I received a concerned call about a Joburg Water sanitation operator attending to a sewage complaint in Sandhurst in my ward. When I arrived, the scene was cordoned off by emergency personnel and their vehicles.

The victim was crouched in a manhole, not showing signs of life. To one side, a group of his colleagues joined hands and bowed their heads in prayer.

Some were hopeful. But as the afternoon wore on confirmation spread that he had died. It's difficult to imagine what this news felt like for co-workers.

Given the derelict state of Joburg, anger is often directed at frontline workers. Yet most are heroes, venturing out in all kinds of weather and dangerous conditions to perform difficult jobs.

Too many Joburg workers and contractors have been killed or injured in the line of duty. In October, two men died in a manhole in the CBD. Generator fumes were blamed.