Bongane is in love with signals

Bongane Mhlungu has been hired as a traffic signal control officer by the Endumeni Municipality to safeguard the school children who use the intersection of Victoria and Smith Streets on their way to school.
School children from Dundee Secondary School, Dundee Primary and Junior Primary use this busy route and Bongane is responsible for protecting the lives of these children.
He said he has been doing this job for the past 19 years. “I was employed as a temporary worker by the Dundee Municipality. One of the traffic officials, Mr du Plessis, introduced me to this job and I was encouraged by one of the traffic officials, Mr Pienaar, who was controlling traffic when the school children were crossing roads. Since then I fell in love with my job,” Bongane told the Courier.
He mentioned that this job needs 100% concentration. “If you make a wrong signal you can’t claim that you will correct it later. You need to correct it immediately or children could die,” he added.
When asked about the difficulties of the job, he said he does not earn an income when schools close for holidays. He works four hours a day and thereafter he has to look for a temporary job or find something to sell. He said there is no other job that he can do besides this job. Bongane added it is difficult to control the motorists who are driving while talking on their cellphones. He congratulated the school children for responding positively to his signals whilst performing his duty.
A motorist who is a frequent user of the route said Bongane is ‘is very confident in what he does and he knows his job. “Hopefully, the municipality will one day give him a full-time job.”