Celebrating 30 years as a SPCA inspector

Senior inspector Ronald Ramalata (51) has been serving at the Johannesburg SPCA for over 30 years, and he is still going strong.

Born and raised in Limpopo, his love for animals started when he used to herd cattle during his upbringing.

“I grew up around animals where I looked after goats, pigs and chickens. There was almost all kinds animals where I grew up. I believe that lead me to become who I am today,” he said.

Ramalata came to Johannesburg in 1990 to pursue a career in teaching, but due to financial constraints, he had to look for a job to take care of his family.

“With the experience of taking care of animals, I found a job at the JSPCA to feed animals and making sure they are clean.”

Even though he did not know what the SPCA was all about, it was not a problem for him to take care of the animals to make a living.

“After I found out what the SPCA was all about it brought me a sense of joy. I have always wanted to learn more and that is what I have been doing for 30 years. I feel I can always add value to every department of the SPCA,” he said.

With the country having its first lockdown last year, Ramalata said they had to remain strong and find solutions for doing things the same but in a different way.

“There were some restrictions but people believed in us in making sure the animals are well taken care of. Even in those circumstances we still went out because people needed help with their pets,” he said.

“With all the challenges everyone has faced, I still wanted to make sure our people are being assisted with their animals.”

Ramalata said that even after three decades of being an inspector, there is a lot he can still offer to the organisation.

“I love animals and I still want to do the best I can with helping them. All I want is to see animals in a good state, and that is what I still want to do in the next coming years. There are challenges but some challenges happen to strengthen us. I am definitely not looking to retire anytime soon,” said Ramalata.

He is grateful for achieving a lot in the years of his career, but he still wants to accomplish more.

“I want to build the department and work with people who are more dedicated in this field. We do not find a lot of people who are capable of doing the job we are doing, but I believe if we continue working hard we will get more such people.”