Wednesday, April 2, 2025

November 30, 2023

City Of Cape Town’s Water And Sanitation Department Members Praised For Saving A Baby And Putting Out A Fire

This is a feel good story if you haven't heard one yet today - about good samaritans going above and beyond to help their fellow humans.

[imagesource:wonderai]

A couple of lionhearted municipal officials have been praised for going beyond the call of duty last week.

The eight members from the Pinelands sewer depot, attached to the City of Cape Town’s Water and Sanitation Department, ended up saving a few lives, including a baby, and putting out a house fire all while out trying to attend to a blocked sewer.

EWN reported that they were attending to a blocked sewer in Athlone when they were forced to leave due to a shooting. Driving down Klipfontein Road, the team noticed a house on fire in Heideveld and jumped into action to help whoever was stuck inside.

While some of the members managed to evacuate the parents and three young children from the burning two-storey house, two members also climbed onto the roof of the garage and broke a window to rescue the two-month-old baby, who was stuck in an upstairs bedroom.

Image: City of Cape Town / Facebook

The team then doused the fire using the water in their truck, which is normally reserved in order to respond to sewer blockages. They did such a good job that by the time the actual firefighters arrived on the scene, the blaze had already been extinguished.

You just can’t make this up. These day workers skyrocketed to heroes in no time, dodging a shooting incident only to go and save a couple of lives in a totally unrelated fire incident.

The water and sanitation officials did not stop there, either. They reportedly went on to sponsor essentials to the family in their personal capacity, to help them rebuild their lives.

Image: City of Cape Town / Facebook

Cape Town ETC reported that Councillor Zahid Badroodien, City’s MMC for Water and Sanitation, met with the team to honour the team for their outstanding service, compassion and nimble thinking.

The heroic eight officials are Lee-Roy Sheldon, Gideon Tyman, Naziem De Jager, Verona Joseph, Ismail Boer, Quinton Sakala, Faeeza Malherbe and Claudia Josias.

Good jobs, good samaritans!

[source:ewn]