'The WC and Cape Town have the best civil servants.' I've not lived elsewhere and have nothing to compare it too but the city has always had a good reputation of service, even back in the day. 
But be careful of generalising. Today the 'public servant' ethic of old is no more - they lord it over the public who are called 'customers' but treated worse than private sector customers are. To them Batho Pele, just administrative action and the relevant laws and precepts are actually vague concepts.
I once had an appointment w/ a WC (Wale St) official who arrived an hour late, and w/ no apology, looked at me as if I had spoiled his day. Without embarrassment he said he had been doing his personal banking. And it wasn't lunch. Last week at a WC facility I waited 2 hours (!) for them to retrieve my file, then left because it wasn't appearing. How many times have the WC and city ignored one because they don't care or for political reasons? The 'culture' of poor-service is ingrained in SA.