Callers get runaround – DA not as perfect as it claims

A spot check revealed the Democratic Alliance (DA) didn’t get the full marks it claimed for answering its governmental department-managed phones in the Western Cape.

The DA suggested seven out of 10 e-mails and calls to ANC-run government departments went unanswered.

In its statement, the party accuses the ANC of cadre deployment and lamented proposed salary increases for public administrators.

The DA said unanswered phones and e-mails were evidence that the most basic of service delivery products had collapsed.

Downloadable spreadsheets list website issues at government departments and whether departments answered their phones.

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On its e-flyer, the DA deduced the majority of government departments do not have the capacity to answer phone calls.

The Citizen spot checked the DA’s claim of a flawless record in the Western Cape and dialled departments the public are likely to seek out for service delivery.

The Western Cape parliamentary switchboard number rang until the network disconnected the call after two minutes.

This number was not tested by the DA in its dipstick survey. The Western Cape premier’s office was answered within a few rings.

The City of Cape Town municipal customer care line was answered in a single ring by a queued voice-prompt system.

But after 10 minutes and around R7.90 in wasted airtime, The Citizen hung up.

The DA did not measure this key service contact point in its effort, either. Two phone numbers are listed online for the Western Cape health department.

One number rang, was picked up and hung up, the other rang nine times and a voice recording then advised “the subscriber you have dialed is not available at present”.

The DA’s call to this department is listed as answered.

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The Western Cape department of social development answered within three rings; economic development and tourism’s listed number was continually engaged.

The DA said when it made a call, it was answered.

For good measure, The Citizen’s spot check included a ring around to several municipal departments where the DA is in charge in other municipalities.

The DA claimed in its statement: “The only exception to this collapse is the one province where cadre deployment has been defeated, namely the DA-led Western Cape, where not a single call went unanswered.”

The Western Cape did not score full marks; it’s closer to 70%.

The City of Cape Town was outperformed, too, by the three freshly minted DA coalition-run municipalities in Gauteng.

The Ekurhuleni call centre was promptly answered by a digital voice system, but the holding time was less than two minutes until an agent answered, introduced herself and offered assistance.

The City of Joburg’s voice prompt system was slightly slower, but in less than three minutes, someone answered.

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Tshwane’s holding time was under three minutes to get to a human.

In website measurement, the DA’s spot check of government departments it listed is not wrong.

The Citizen cross-checked its assertions and while in some instances security certification had lapsed, others were user-unfriendly, had dysfunctional pages and, in some instances, content pages simply did not exist.

The City of Cape Town’s website is excellent, user-friendly and updated.

The Western Cape provincial government’s site is equally as well laid out with functional links and useful content.