Ekurhuleni council puts service delivery on the agenda

The Ekurhuleni Council convened for its ordinary meeting on May 22 in Germiston, with service delivery issues once again taking centre stage.

Councillors highlighted widespread dissatisfaction among residents regarding the poor customer care at municipal customer care centres.

“Residents have complained about municipal staff’s bad attitude, arrogance, neglect, and prematurely closing cases that remain unresolved,” stated Clr Gloria Ndinisa.

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“Some residents even resort to visiting different walk-in centres, often encountering the same, if not worse, treatment. This underscores the daily challenges faced by the city’s residents.”

Ndinisa criticised the report presented at the meeting, stating it failed to accurately reflect the situation.

“The report does not show the true extent of poor service. Instead, it misleadingly rates most interactions as excellent with a 99.9% rating.

“This is far from the reality at the walk-in centres. The council must receive honest and consistent reporting to make informed decisions.

“The current report contradicts the actual experiences of residents.”

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Questioning the efficiency of municipal staff, Ndinisa suggested the need for further training.

“Municipal staff may require additional training or refresher courses to improve customer care for the benefit of the city,” she said.

Ndinisa emphasised the importance of customer care centres in timely and efficient service to the community.

“We cannot have centres that fail to attend to residents and provide necessary information. Staff need to understand their role and the purpose of these centres,” she said.