HIBISCUS Coast Municipality has always had to bear the brunt of an angry public trying to renew their driver’s licences in the Port Shepstone CBD.
Inaccessible offices, long queues, rude, unhelpful and arrogant staff have all been the stuff of public rants.
Well, it now seems people have been focusing much of their wrath on the wrong government body.
In fact, the buck stops with the Department of Transport (DOT) and not HCM. The latter are merely the ‘agents’ for the DOT.
Municipal spokesman Simon April says HCM has been pushing for a ‘turn-around strategy’ for some time and now they are confident DOT has got the point.
HCM wants the service decentralised as soon as possible and it looks as if it will become a reality by the new financial year or July at the latest.
New offices will be opened in Hibberdene, Gamalakhe, Margate, Leisure Bay, Port Edward and Ezinqoleni – relieving the pressure on Port Shepstone considerably.
Concerning complaints about the staff, the pressure is obviously a recipe for frustrated staff vs frustrated public.
“All we can do is apologise and request people to report bad service or rude staff immediately to the supervisor,” said Mr April.
“We do not condone such behavior and encourage staff to abide by the Batho Pele Principles at all times.
“We have gone to the extent of providing training, especially to employees who deal directly with the community.
“We also believe that most of the staff have improved in this regard as we have had many compliments.”
However, Mr April said there might still be a few isolated cases and he encouraged people to report them on the spot.
