Gideon Van Zyl
Senior Professional Officer at City of Cape Town- Claim this Profile
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English Native or bilingual proficiency
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Afrikaans Native or bilingual proficiency
Topline Score
Bio
Credentials
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ICMEESA (Senior Member)
Institute of Certified Electrical & Mechanical Engineers of SA (ICMEESA)Sep, 2009- Oct, 2024 -
SAIEE (Senior Member)
South African Institute of Electrical Engineers (SAIEE)Aug, 2009- Oct, 2024 -
Electrical Engineers Certificate of Competency (known in South Africa as a Government Ticket)
Department of Labour, Republic of South AfricaNov, 1997- Oct, 2024 -
Professional Engineer (ECSA)
Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA)Nov, 1997- Oct, 2024
Experience
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City of Cape Town
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South Africa
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Government Administration
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700 & Above Employee
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Senior Professional Officer
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Apr 2015 - Present
Key Responsibilities: ! Conduct and coordinate technical aspects of the supply chain for acquisition of substation equipment. ! Research, introduce and apply new technologies, standards and practices in Electricity distribution substation equipment. ! Arrange and coordinate training programmes in conjunction with the Electricity Training Centre. ! Represent the City on national NRS and SABS working groups. Key Responsibilities: ! Conduct and coordinate technical aspects of the supply chain for acquisition of substation equipment. ! Research, introduce and apply new technologies, standards and practices in Electricity distribution substation equipment. ! Arrange and coordinate training programmes in conjunction with the Electricity Training Centre. ! Represent the City on national NRS and SABS working groups.
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DEAT: Antarctica & Islands
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Cape Town, Antarctica, Marion Island, Gough Island
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Chief Engineer
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Oct 2006 - Mar 2015
Key Responsibilities: I am the Engineering / Technical Manager of the South African National Antarctic Programme (www.sanap.ac.za). Technical management of all base services, vehicle fleet and communication systems. I manage the personnel of the DEA Technical Section, consisting of two mechanical technicians, an electronic technician (vacant post) as well as a senior clerk. I also manage the engineering staff our three remote bases, consisting of 10 diesel mechanics, technicians and engineers. They are appointed annually on contract and I am involved in their selection, appointment and training. Key Achievements: Recognising and establishing of the Safety training for personnel to Antarctica. Upgrade of the Satellite network on short notice and under severe financial limits. The upgrade of the Marion Island HF Radio Communications system. Influencing and establishment of the S.A. Agulhas II communication system. Modernising of the Antarctic Navigation and GPS's and finding and eradicating old errors. Re-evaluating the Emergency and SARS systems and equipment and establishing improvements. I made enormous strides in trying to implement an ISO 14001 based Environmental, Health and Safety Management system within SANAP. Improving the return ratio of contracted technical personnel. Re-ignited the spark in the technical section for innovation and achievement. I initialised the major refurbishment project for SANAE base to save energy and reduce our carbon footprint and environmental impact. Initialising a Computerised Maintenance Management System for the bases which actually should have been done by another department. We are seriously understaffed and I also have to do the work of the vacant electronic technician post. I therefore had to build knowledge regarding radio communication systems, satellite communication systems, IT and network systems as well as learn the LINUX operating system. I am still hands-on with all the electrical issues and support. Show less
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Sasol
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South Africa
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Chemical Manufacturing
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700 & Above Employee
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Electrical Engineer
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May 2006 - Sep 2006
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES: I worked in the Engineering and Planning Department of the Synfuels Division. Our Section had to manage all the electrical projects in the gas production section, and got involved in the designs, development and supervision of the implementation. Key Achievements: When the extraordinary opportunity arose to go and work in Antarctica I have not been there long enough to make any real impact, although during the September 2009 shutdown I am sure that my experience of similar projects and pressure did have a positive influence on the success of our project. Show less
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Tradeworx 132
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Brackenfell
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Construction and Workshop Manager
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Feb 2005 - Dec 2005
Key Duties: I managed the personnel, budget and projects of the workshop- and the factory construction arm of the company. This included customer liaison and the planning and quality control of the projects. Key Achievements: I turned the way that projects were run around and the projects were beginning to be completed on time and to the required quality. There were projects that were over 2 years in arrears with enormous snag lists when I started working there and those issues were rectified and the projects completed for handover to the customers. The quality control of the work of contractors were improved enormously. I managed to get better production from a mostly unskilled and totally underpaid workforce through better training and motivation. Show less
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Medi-Clinic
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Head Office, Technical Department, Stellenbosch
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Electrical Specialist
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Apr 2003 - Jan 2005
Key Duties: I provided specialist electrical support for Engineering Services director, the technical managers of the hospitals and the area engineers of the whole Medi-Clinic Group. Electrical planning and designs, project management, building services, demand side management, hospital and electrical regulations interpretation and compliance management Key Achievements: Successfully managing many projects including the head office UPS upgrade. Investigating and reporting on the state of the electrical systems of old hospitals bought by the group. Electrical system fault finding and quality control of contractor work. Show less
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City of Cape Town
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Electricity Department, Substation Section, Cape Town
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SENIOR ELECTRICAL ENGINEER
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Dec 1997 - Mar 2003
Key Duties: Assisting the Substation Engineer in supervising the installation, operation and maintenance of the high and medium voltage substations in the distribution area of the Electricity Department of the City of Cape Town. To achieve that I: Managed projects for switching and step-down substations. Compiled equipment specifications Evaluated tenders and compiled committee reports. Conducted investigations into incidents, apparatus failures and other abnormalities. Co-ordinated, planned and implemented system protection at switching and step-down substations. Did protection tests for commissioning and maintenance. Oversaw and participated in commissioning switching and step-down substations. Compiled Switching Programmes. Key Achievements: This was during a period when a lot of work was done in the expansion and refurbishment of the electrical network in Cape Town, and we had a high workload and worked long hours. I introduced the use of CAD in the drawing of our network diagrams for the switching programmes which resulted in clearer communication to all parties involved, especially the field personnel. I played a big part in the successful completion of numerous projects. I played a big roll in the motivation of an understaffed group working under severe pressure. I also was highly influential in the mentoring of junior technical personnel in our group. Show less
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Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd
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Utilities
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700 & Above Employee
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Area Engineer
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Oct 1992 - Nov 1997
Key Duties: I provided a technical service to the technical and customer service staff of the large rural Worcester Area, in the electrical distribution-engineering (LV, 11, 22, 66 and 132 kV) field. I managed the Area Engineering group (Senior Area Protection Technician, Maintenance Technician, Operational Planning Technician, Performance Technician and Senior Clerk.) Key Achievements: I achieved very good customer performance improvements by co-ordinating multi-disciplinary investigations and solutions and we were even used to help in other areas. Some of these solutions were recognised by awards from the General Manager of Eskom. We discovered and resolved the incorrect application of a protection philosophy of the pole mounted auto reclosers that were supplied to the whole of Eskom. I achieved good success in managing crisis situations and establishing supply contingencies. I was the best student of the Eskom Technology Leadership Programme of that year. Show less
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Education
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1984 - 1989
Stellenbosch University
B. Eng, Electrical (Heavy Current) -
1979 - 1983
Hoërskool President
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