Many residents claim that lodging a complaint feels like being stuck in a loop, with little to no resolution even after multiple calls to the City of Mbombela call centre.

Some say they have dialed more than 10 times, only to be cut off or left holding indefinitely. They are now demanding that the CoM improve the efficiency of its call centre, describing the ongoing issues as unacceptable.

Truia Wessels said: “I had the same bad experience. I made about 30 phone calls in one week to report a storm drain problem. They give you numbers that don’t work, or the call drops every time. I have been transferred to several different people; none of them were in their offices. Eventually, I got the direct contact number of the person I should talk to from a friend. It is such a frustration and very poor service to the public.”

ALSO READ: City of Mbombela tackles Gatvol issues, but it’s ‘not a one-day job’

Johan Delport said: “I have encountered the same problem. All they do is give you another number to phone.”

Jannie Schoeman said: “Since Monday I have been trying to get any answer from 013 759 9111. I phoned at least 12 times a day. All I got from the answering machine is, ‘You’ve reached Mbombela. Press 1 for customer service or hold the line for reception.’ It is frustrating. That number is on billboards. I found an email address, but that did not even go through. This is the worst service I’ve ever gotten in this town. You cannot call it a city. They are all earning massive salaries but there is no client service for those who pay taxes so they can earn those large salaries.”

Residents are now so gatvol, they insist the CoM employ people with skills or better train their existing staff.

ALSO READ: Gatvol kick-starts City of Mbombela’s Service Delivery Drive

According to the CoM’s municipal manager, Wiseman Khumalo, trained employees are working at the call centre.

“Their job is to refer customers to the relevant people with better knowledge to assist them. The municipality does not hire people without the skills to do the job.
“Our customers need to understand that when calling the call centre, they will be directed to the person responsible for that department. I am aware that sometimes they might not get the help they need at the time due to the high volume of calls. That is why we have email where they can also lodge their complaints and we do follow up on them. We are servicing 45 wards with more than 800 000 people and cannot accommodate them all at once,” Khumalo said.

“The municipality welcomes the criticism from the people they are serving, but the residents should not expect immediate assistance.

There is a staff shortage which is being addressed. There are satellite offices in all the areas where people can go to report any issue,” Khumalo concluded.