Light at the end of the tunnel for ratepayers

There is a glimmer of hope for Roodepoort residents who are frustrated and unhappy with service delivery from the City of Johannesburg‘s customer service centres.

According to the city’s spokesperson, Kgamanyane Maphologela, the CoJ is serious about improving customer service to residents. “We want our customers to know that they don’t necessarily have to drive all the way to the main customer service centre in Braamfontein when they have queries. They can, right in their area, escalate their queries to the area managers,” Maphologela said.

The CoJ aims for improved service delivery and a part of this broader plan is the regionalisation of the billing process which will be implemented by February next year. The focus of this process will be on customer-centricity – allowing customers to choose their own dates to settle their accounts, improvement of billing accuracy and ensuring services move closer to the customers.

As part of strengthening the regional offices, the area managers will be available across the seven regions of the city – from Soweto to Midrand. They will deal with unhappy customers with long-outstanding queries.

Maphologela reminded customers to always follow the city’s escalation process to ensure their queries are resolved quickly. The most important thing is to keep the reference number they receive after logging a query. Photos, cellphone numbers and email addresses of the area managers will be on display at the regional offices.

The escalation process – from where it was first logged – of a query is as follows:

– Your municipal issue should be logged via the call centre on 0860 562 874 and you should receive a reference number.

– A query should be resolved within 30 days; if not, follow the next step in the escalation process.

– If no resolution after 30 days, escalate your query to your regional manager.

– If, after escalation to the regional manager, there is still no response, refer the query to the Deputy Director.

– Should a customer still be unhappy with the response or resolution received from the CoJ, the Municipal Ombudsman should be contacted on complaints@joburgombudsman.org.za or info@joburgombudsman.org.za.

“Customers with queries that have a life-span of more than 30 days can escalate their query by requesting to speak directly to the area manager responsible for their area,” said Maphologela.

The regional manager for Region C, which is Roodepoort, is Shaun Govender. His contact details are: shaungo@joburg.org.za, 082 332 3808 or 011 761 0314.

The Regional Deputy Director is Arthur Mbobo. He can be contacted on arthurmb@joburg.org.za, 072 939 4786 or 011 628 4084.

Do you perhaps have more information pertaining to this story? Email us at roodepoortrecord@caxton.co.za (remember to include your contact details) or phone us on 011 955 1130.

For free daily local news on the West Rand, also visit our sister newspaper websites Randfontein Herald, Krugersdorp News and Get It Joburg West Magazine

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