Clr Da Rocha commended

The EXPRESS published an article in which a Cyrildene resident, Ms Nabilah Moosa, complained about the way she was allegedly treated by Clr Da Rocha. She said he was rude when she reported a power outage to him. She raised concerns about a three-day power outage and spoke about her father who is dependent on an oxygen machine.

Following comments made about Clr Da Rocha, Ms Connie Muller, a Troyeville resident, applauded Clr Da Rocha for the work he does.

“He bends over backwards to help residents. I know the frustration of not having electricity. It is terribly stressful and residents can become impatient at times, however, the councillor helps where he can. Clr Da Rocha is a good man,” she said.

She said Clr Da Rocha helped her family on several occasions. One of these occasions was when she contacted him about illegal dumping at a sub station. “He reported it and Pikitup came out to clean the area,” said Ms Muller.

Mrs Lornette Joseph, from the I Love Kensington Association (Ilka), said the organisation appreciates everything Clr Da Rocha did for ward 118 when it did not have a councillor.

“He did not have to add to his already busy workload, but chose to do so to help the residents as best he could. Electricity is always a problem, especially in winter. The system is old and City Power replaces parts when they break instead of maintaining them. This is not something that is in Clr Da Rocha’s power. From my understanding of the situation, the resident of ward 118 contacted the Clr. He responded by getting someone to come out the same day. Then they had to fetch equipment to repair the fault which could only be done the next day. While Clr da Rocha can come across in a gruff manner, and may sound ‘rude’, he is passionate about his residents and his ward. His tone in no way reflects his ability to do his job or get the job done,” said Mrs Joseph.

She added that Clr Da Rocha makes himself available residents and this results in him being personally involved in addressing problems. “Instead of telling residents to log the fault and send him the reference number, he often logs the call himself. Ilka not only turns to Clr da Rocha with electricity problems but with various other concerns, sometimes not his ward, and he is very forth coming,” said Mrs Joseph.

In articles published last week, several residents and Clr Da Rocha raised concerns about how people are struggling to contact an agent at the call centre to log complaints about power outages. He said he has become a punching bag to people who cannot contact someone at the call centre. He said he understands residents’ frustrations, however he has become the call centre.

Mrs Joseph said Ilka is experiencing the same as Clr Da Rocha. “Clr Da Rocha is correct. Residents are frustrated with waiting for ages to get hold of someone to answer their calls. Often, residents are calling from their mobile phones. These calls are not free. It can take 30 minutes for a call to be answered. Some residents become annoyed and contact Ilka to log the calls. While we have no problem with logging the calls and following up, we too cannot be used as a call centre for all problems,” she said.

She said Ilka is only made up of a handful of people and cannot take on that responsibility. She said Ilka also does not have the authority to deploy workers to fix the problems.

“We suggest residents make use of the City of Johannesburg website to log faults. City Power also has a mobi site for those using their mobile phones. Once a reference number is provided, send it to Ilka and we will keep track of it. We can escalate the problems. We have in the past, and will continue, helping those residents who are unable to do this, especially the elderly,” said Mrs Joseph.

@JoziReporter