EMM call centre in the spotlight
Clr Allan Sauls said the upgrades have not resulted in the improvements promised by the municipality over a year later.
The newly upgraded Ekurhuleni Call Centre has been met with conflicting reviews by residents.
Launched in May 2014, the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality (EMM) executive mayor Clr Mondli Gungubele said the centre’s technology had been upgraded to tighten communication between the call agents, the point of service and the field agents in order to ensure that complaints were resolved speedily and that credible feedback was given to complainants.
The PR councillor for the DA, Clr Allan Sauls, said the upgrades have not resulted in the improvements promised by the municipality over a year later.
He said, “I am increasingly being approached by residents who have logged complaints with the call centre but have received no feedback, nor have their service delivery complaints been resolved.”
Clr Sauls said call centre operators also seldom provided updates or feedback to residents on the status of complaints.
“It is clear that the R7-million spent on upgrading the centre and the employment of more than 200 agents has done little to improve this service delivery hotline,” said Clr Sauls.
He said he will be submitting questions to the MMC for Corporate and Shared Services, Clr Queen Duba, regarding the call centre’s alleged failure to resolve the complaints it receives from residents and how the municipality plans to fix this problem.
In Bedfordview, some residents expressed satisfaction regarding the service offered by the call centre.
Ms Mpho Moloto said, “I have seen significant change since the upgrade. The staff is also helpful when I contact them for assistance.”
The ward 20 councillor, Clr Jill Humphreys, also conducted a poll on her social media page. She invited residents to share their experiences of the call centre.
One resident posted, “I had a good experience. The lady who helped me, [though] I cant remember her name, was super efficient and very helpful.”
Another posted, “If one can get through, the operators are great. It’s the system that is erratic. Also, the interference on the line is often awful.”
