Communication between residents and metro officials will hopefully improve drastically in future after the passing of a DA motion at the monthly council meeting last week.
Tabled by Kempton Park ward councillor Simon Lapping, the motion called for a return to Batho Pele (putting people first) principles.
“Residents of Ekurhuleni have become tired of shoddy service from the municipality. This is particularly the case when people waste time and money in failed attempts to reach the call centre,” Lapping said in a statement issued on Monday.
“On many occasions, when residents do get in touch with a call centre agent, they are forced to deal with disinterested municipal employees. This has obviously impacted on service delivery. During the recent holidays, the level of service from municipal officials sank to an all-time low.
“In 1994, under the leadership of Nelson Mandela, the country adopted the Batho Pele principles as guidelines for service to the public,” Lapping said. “The principles cover service standards, access to information, redress for residents, value for money and customer impact.
“Councillors have been inundated with complaints about lack of response from officials and the disinterest shown from call centre employees. As a result of these complaints, I presented and submitted a motion to council, calling for a return to Batho Pele principles. The motion was passed unanimously by all parties in council.”
The motion resolved that:
• All employees in Ekurhuleni have to engage with communities. This means they must give regular updates and communicate meaningfully on issues affecting the communities they serve.
• Employees must reply to written communication within 48 hours of receipt. These responses must be made to both residents and councillors.
• The communication must contain proper feedback on queries raised, and proper assistance must be given in order to find a solution to issues and problems.
• Officials must adhere to the turnaround times and service level agreements in their departments, guided by the KPIs (key performance indicators) for each department.
“I further emphasised the need for employees to take the Batho Pele principles seriously,” Lapping said. “If employees fail to do so, council resolved they may be disciplined or dismissed.
“The DA fully supports and subscribes to the Batho Pele principles. Furthermore, the DA believes in transparency and accountability, and this is a benchmark to which all employees must measure up.
“In Ekurhuleni the performance levels of employees will in future be closely monitored to ensure compliance with the resolutions of this motion. We hope that the passing of this motion will have a positive impact for all residents of the metro,” the councillor concluded.
