PETITION TO IMPROVE SERVICE DELIVERY COMPLAINT RESOLUTION IN THE CITY OF EKURHULENI

The residents in the City of Ekurhuleni have expressed significant and growing frustration with the municipal call centre, particularly throughout 2025 and into early 2026. Reports indicate that the system has faced what some local officials describe as a "collapse," leading to long wait times and technical failures such as:

• High call failures (unanswered calls, disconnections);
• Operational inefficiency (increased wait times, productivity drop), and;
• Premature closure of tickets (unresolved issues).

This creates a bottleneck in the system that disrupts the entire chain of municipal service delivery, as calls are inaccurately logged and channelled, resulting in inefficient and ineffective prioritisation and resolution of service delivery complaints.

We, the residents of the City of Ekurhuleni, therefore, would like to petition the city to:

1. Provide adequate training to improve telephone etiquette among call centre agents and the accuracy of calls logged.
2. Invest in Interactive Voice Response (IVR) technology and virtual agents to provide automated status updates on service delivery complaints in real-time by using a caller’s cell phone number as a point of contact.
3. Review the functionality of the My CoE App, Councillor App and Siyakhokha WhatsApp platforms to improve their functionality and remove technical glitches and bugs.
4. Improve integration between the My CoE App and Siyakhokha WhatsApp platforms to ensure synchronisation between platforms.
5. Implement an SMS/ WhatsApp feedback system where a ticket cannot be closed by a technician alone but will require resident verification.
6. Implement GPS-tagged proof of work where officials upload a photo proof of a completed repair linked to a location.
7. Conduct a forensic operational audit on call centre agent productivity and provide adequate training to improve response times and accuracy of call logs.
8. Implement specialised routing of calls, where certain calls are routed to expert desks instead of generalist agents to reduce the duration of time spent on certain calls (e.g. prepaid metering, zonal power outages).
9. Implement an automated escalation system, where the system alerts an HOD or Councillor of an outstanding issue if it is not addressed within the timeframe specified.
10. Review and upgrade the ICT system to provide better support for the IMS system, Councillor App, My CoE App and Siyakhokha platforms.

Democratic Alliance, Ekurhuleni    Contact the author of the petition