The Mahikeng local municipality finally established a call centre and residents in the provincial capital can now report on issues affecting them directly to the municipality.

 

The development is set to relieve pressure on the national hotline where Mahikeng residents used to endure long periods of waiting on the line to report on problems in their areas.

 

Deputy Minister in the Presidency, Obed Bapela, raised the need for a call centre in Mahikeng when he visited the city last year.

 

Bapela pointed out that the national hotline was clogged by calls on issues that municipalities were well placed to solve.

 

As an answer to this, member of the mayoral committee (MMC) for marketing and communications, Pontsho Tabane, told journalists on Tuesday that the new call centre would empower residents.

 

“This facility takes government to the people and it will help municipal leadership to communicate better with people on the ground.

 

“Expectations are that it will assist many of our consumers to report on potholes, street light defaults, burst water pipes and any other issues that affect the lives of residents,” Tabane said.

 

Tabane added that the centre will give a test to the municipality’s turn-around time on reported issues.

 

“When a report is made, we will be able to trace the time it was recorded, the person who recorded it and the time taken to attend to such a problem. The caller will also have these details and reference for the call and they can be able to gauge the responsiveness of the municipality to their issues.”

 

The call centre number is 0183889000 and it is free of charge.

 

“Any person can call from the comfort of their homes or anywhere they encounter problems. At present, the centre operates from 7am until 4.30pm due to financial constraints on the municipality’s part. We are looking at reviewing expenditure on this issue so that we train more staff members and be able to operate 24 hours.”

 

Tabane said the municipality would use the facility to communicate with residents who were in arrears with their bills.

 

“The auditor general has highlighted that the municipality has over R600m uncollected revenue.

 

“We will remind all the residents in arrears of up to three months, to keep record of that so that when we act, they will not say the municipality does not give them a chance to make arrangements.”

 

Asked how the municipality would guard against hoax calls, Tabane said the centre had a foolproof system.

 

“When a person calls, we will be able to have his/her coordinates and that will help us vet the extent of the problem.

 

“Unlike in our fire division, we will also have the ability to trace calls but the appeal we are making is for people to use this facility wisely.”

Source: http://www.thenewage.co.za