The company unveiled a service delivery package valued at R17 million comprising the installation and implementation of call centre (hardware and software) and of electrical switchgear, 20 light delivery vehicles and a crane truck and aerial platform vehicle.
This donation complements Anglo’s existing national municipal capacity-building programme undertaken in partnership with the Development Bank of Southern Africa and the Investment Climate Facility for Africa.
This initiative aims to create fully functioning and sustainable municipalities capable of delivering quality basic services in an efficient and cost effective manner.
Anglo’s coal business has contributed R11 million to the R120-million municipal capacity-building programme, specifically aimed at assisting the local municipality with the development of human capacity and the strengthening of revenue collection systems.
Emalahleni executive mayor Councillor Salome Sithole said: “This infrastructure will greatly assist us in achieving improved response times in the delivery of essential services for people living in our area, while the state-of-the-art call centre will be instrumental in providing an important link with them. On behalf of the municipality, we would like to thank Anglo American for this crucial and most welcome support.”
“The creation of a better South Africa can only be realised through teamwork, partnership and collaboration, which is why we continue to work hand-in-hand with our many stakeholders – including local government. By strengthening institutional capacity for the delivery of improved services, we believe that we are making a positive contribution to the health of local economies and are promoting the sustainability of our host communities,” said Themba Mkhwanazi, Chief Executive Officer of the South African-based coal business.
The handover took place at a gathering of mining industry stakeholders who held discussions around the formulation of a holistic approach for sustainable growth and the continued wellbeing of communities situated close to mining sites on March 25.
Over the past five years, Anglo’s coal business has spent R400 million on social investments in its host communities in Mpumalanga and the Free State. This ceremony was the second by Anglo this week in eMalahleni, following the handover of a school infrastructure project at Kriel’s Sbongamandla Secondary School on Tuesday, March 24.
The municipality has been experiencing major challenges throughout the years with information management between consumers and the municipality which has created frustrations and in some cases lead to service delivery protests due to critical information not reaching designated officials and consumers in order to implement service delivery processes. The current system being utilised is old, outdated and non-existent thereby creating a need for a modernised and consumer friendly customer/call centre.
The new system would enable a smooth and efficient communication flow between the consumer and officials thereby creating a healthy environment for service delivery and customer care.
The projects entails an automated call/customer centre wherein all communication media is utilised, interalia, email, sms and voice recordings, a feedback system with reference numbers for easy of follow ups and feedback to customers, a walk in centre to cater for all municipal services provided on a one-stop shop basis, provision of a 24-hour customer service and dedicated personnel for handling all queries and complaints.
A service provider has been appointed by Anglo and currently it has been indicated that all relevant software and ICT equipment has been procured ready for delivery to the municipality. The municipality is in the process of appointing a service provider to renovate the designated area to be utilised as the call and customer centre.
During October 2013 the main intake substation at KwaGuqa 132kV Substation which is the main intake point for consumers in KwaGuqa new extensions caught fire and burnt down. Extensive damage was caused to the main substation building, switchgear and a 40MVA transformer. The estimated damage at the substation amounted to R40-million wherein Anglo committed to assist with replacement of 22kV switchboard and the relevant testing equipment towards the municipality.
The work involved the manufacturing, supply and delivery of 22kV feeder panels, one current injector testing machine, a megger tester and a TTR transformer tester.
The 22kV switchgear is utilised for distribution, isolation and safe operation of electricity to customers.
The TTR testing machine is used to test the state of the windings of the transformers during fault conditions in order to ensure whether a transformer unit can be energised or not. Currently the municipality does not have this type of equipment and has been relying on external service providers to perform this function at very high costs to council, as this is a specialised field of work.
The Megger is used to test whether there are any abnormal conditions on switchgears, cables or transformers wherein the piece of equipment being tested is open circuit or is down to earth, which can cause serious injury to operating personnel, customers or the equipment itself if the equipment should be operated under a fault condition.
The current injector is used for testing critical equipment within switchgear which is sealed units and cannot be pre-determined without going through the necessary testing processes.
The municipality does not have piece of equipment.
The manufacturing of the switchgear is 90 % complete and officials of the municipality will be visiting the factory during April to witness the final tests before installation on site of the equipment which would be complete by the end of Apri. The substation should be fully operational before the winter months start.
The municipality currently cannot fulfil its commitment to the communities of Emalahleni in terms of service delivery due to an old and aged fleet. The shortage of vehicles has created a serious problem in terms of the turnaround times for attending to customer complaints and in most cases has lead to serious frustrations within communities due to the unavailability of vehicles to attend timeously to their complaints.
This will soon be something of the past.
Anglo gave the municipality 20 double cab light duty vehicles, which they officially handed over on March 25.
They are also going to give the municipality cherry picker, a crane truck and a load lugger.
“The municipality would like to extend its gratitude to Anglo for providing funding for the three projects as these would not have been achieved without the assistance from the funder, and these projects as described above will enhance productivity, communication and service delivery to all affected communities of Emalahleni,” Mr Theo van Vuuren, the municipality’s administrator said.
