ETHEKWINI mayor, Councillor Zandile Gumede launched a WhatsApp water reporting line at the City’s Water Call Centre on Tuesday morning, which also marked her first 30 days as the new mayor.
The line will give residents an opportunity to immediately report water related faults to the municipality and in turn, expedite the Municipality’s response to the fault.
The number is 0731483477.
The innovation is part of the city’s efforts to make communication with its 3,5 million residents, “simpler, fast-track service delivery, reduce the water leak repair turnaround time and water wastage. The telephone line will allow the public to report public leaks, burst pipes, illegal connections, blocked sewer drains, water supply interruptions and any other water related issues to the EThekwini Water and Sanitation (EWS) Unit- anytime and from anywhere using their phones.”
The WhatsApp channel will also have a facility for consumers to send location pins of problems which will assist in locating the problem area, and will have a chat history with EWS kept for reference on unresolved issues.
Speaking at the launch, Gumede said, while the line was for water reporting, other “pressing issues can be reported on this line.” “It is not only the technology we are introducing but the monitoring that comes with it- with time lines from when reported to having the problem sorted. Our officials have been trained to make sure things are happening and we are confident this will assist service delivery. It is not just a talk shop, residents can also send us a picture of the fault along with the location,” she added.
Customers might even be required to take pictures of the leaks or burst pipes for correct coding of faults. A task team was set up to put the project together with all the necessary infrastructure after conducting a pilot run of the project.
Mayor Gumede pledged to prioritise water and sanitation in her inaugural speech and added, “I was not just paying lip service when I said the city must continue to get the basics right. We have remained true to our pledge and demonstrated that our city is committed to using innovation technology to fast track service delivery.
“We are confident that eThekwini residents will partner with us to ensure the timeous reporting of water leaks, burst pipes, illegal connections, blocked sewer drains and water supply interruptions,” she added, before signing a commitment pledge to service delivery.
