Nelson Mandela Bay residents are going to see increased responsiveness from the Municipality following the up-scaling of an initiative used during the 2010 FIFA World Cup to receive and respond to service delivery issues.
The Municipality this week opened a dedicated call centre for lodging all complaints regarding service delivery in the Bay with a view to improve municipal responsiveness to community issues.
Dubbed the War Room on Service Delivery, the initiative is effectively an expansion of the highly successful and much acclaimed Joint Operation Centre run by the Municipality during the 2010 FIFA World Cup which was introduced about the same time last year.
During the World Cup, residents and visitors had a single number to call for all municipal and government services in line with international best-practise. Backed by Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras monitoring key nodes, the centre improved the ability of the Municipality, Emergency Medical Services and the South African Police Services to respond proactively or react speedily to service delivery complaints, emergencies and crime, among others.
The project is also one of the apex projects Executive Mayor, Clr. Zanoxolo Wayile undertook to introduce when he came into office in late 2009 along with other Mayoral Committee members.
“It has always been our resolve as the leadership of the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality to increase communication with the public and improve the ability of the municipality to respond to emerging issues. Our extensive public participation and stakeholder engagement initiatives around the 100 days plan, the Integrated Development Plan and Budget consultation processes, as well as recent the ward visits, bare testimony to our commitment to govern within the context of open communication between us and the residents. It is because of this improved communication with communities that we have been leading the municipality towards an impressive service delivery path,” said Mayor Wayile.
“We have now gained considerable experience in running a centre of this nature, starting from May last year, through the World Cup, to the times we have had to set it up in order to respond to potential weather-related disasters. With this experience we are confident that the people of Nelson Mandela Bay will receive a superior service from their municipality going forward,” added Mayor Wayile.
He explained that this was also the first step of a potential migration towards a unified approach to customer care within the municipality. “We are laying the foundations for an even bigger institutional initiative that will improve community and customer satisfaction levels greatly,” he explained.
The 080 020 5050 number is already used for lodging water related complaints. Since yesterday, it has been open for all other service delivery related aspects such as large scale power outages and road-related enquiries as well as community-watch type of calls regarding cable theft and illegal dumping.
A consumer who had an extra-ordinarily high electricity account Premier Noxolo Kiviet’s visit to the Bay yesterday has already tasted the success of the initiative since her query was resolved in the same day.
As was the case with the Joint Operation Centre various municipal departments are represented in the War-Room on Service Delivery in order to ensure immediate support and follow up when necessary.
NMB Communications
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Until the DA run this city, this’ll mean absolutely nothing – just another rate-payer borne expense with toll-free lines adding to the costs. Imagine the “comrades’ chatting all day to their pals – while we pay the phone account!
There is a more urgent tone to the description of this vital area ………
We have moved from ‘Task Teams to ‘WAR ROOM’.
God save us from politicians who fiddle with the English Language.