Speech by Executive Mayor, Alderman Patricia de Lille,
at the launch of the City’s free-call lines in Fisantekraal
This administration is fully committed to building a Caring City for all
Capetonians. For us to realise this, we must constantly explore ways to
provide the best possible level of service to all communities, most
especially to the poor.
In order to ensure that we provide quality services and to ensure that we
are responsive to citizens’ needs, the City has a number of
communication channels available to residents to lodge their complaints.
The City has established a Call Centre to enable residents to contact us
with their municipal accounts and service-related queries. The Call Centre
receives on average 83 000 calls per month.
In order to further improve communication with residents, the City has
installed a total of 50 free-call lines in City facilities, including libraries and
municipal offices.
Today, we are launching the next phase of the City’s free-call services
with a pilot project for a new 24-hour free-call line (radio communication)
to improve service delivery specifically designed for use in informal
settlements.
The first free-call telephone device has been built in Fisanteskraal, as part
of the pilot project. Five more free call lines will be installed in other
informal settlements once we have reviewed the effectiveness of system.
The telephone device will be placed in a central and secure location to
ensure that it is easily accessible to the rest of the community.
It will allow residents in informal settlements to communicate directly
with the City’s Water and Sanitation Department to report any defects in
basic services infrastructure such as leaking taps and blocked sewerage
systems.
While residents must be custodians of the infrastructure in their
communities, it is our ultimate obligation to fix infrastructure in need of
repair. But we can only fix what we know is broken. For that information,
we need the help of residents.
With these initiatives under way, we are moving towards our goal of
building a city that is more caring every day and ensuring that we meet
the needs and expectations of citizens.