MATTHEW HIRSCH
The City held a tour of public amenities in the Protea Sub-council, which includes the City Bowl and Atlantic Seaboard, for residents and the media last week, Thursday, February 25.
The tour visited the call centre at the Civic Centre, Central library and the Civic Centre MyCiTi station.
Sub-council 16 chairperson, Demetri Qually, told the Atlantic Sun the purpose of the tour was to showcase some of the public amenities available to the residents and inform them about the centralisation of the City’s call centre.
“Public spaces and facilities are crucial to creating an enabling environment through which residents have access to a variety of opportunities.
“It goes without saying that it is important for the public to know which facilities are available for them, especially in the case of our lesser advantaged and under-privileged residents who rely on government to provide them with the fundamental tools necessary for building a better life for themselves,” added Mr Qually.
He said the call centre previously consisted of different telephone lines and locations.
The objective of the Corporate Call Centre was to deal with accounts and a wide range of general enquiries and service, while the Water Techinal Operating Centre (TOC)’s mandate was to see to all water and sanitation related enquires and call-outs.
“The amalgamation of these two call centres will immediately result in improved responsiveness when residents contact the City regarding water and sanitation service faults.
“This enhanced operational efficiency of the Water TOC is particularly important in light of the national drought and the recent water restrictions within Cape Town which have placed increased pressure on our Water TOC,” said Mr Qually.
The City hopes the amalgamation of these two call centres will decrease the call-out time for water-related queries. Also discussed on the tour at Central library, in Darling Street, was the City’s Smart Cape Public Access programme, an internet service used mainly for job searches, CV formulation, homework and research. They said that this programme included·102 Smart Cape facilities at all City libraries, serving 450 0000 users who are given 50MB a day and are allowed to use the computers for 45 minutes. The pilot project was the recipient of a Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Award.
At the MyCiTi station, they spoke about the wi-fi services at the station as well as the roll-out of wi-fi on buses for which a tender has been awarded recently.
The name of the company and when it will be implemented will be announced.
* Call the City’s call centre on 0860 103 089 or SMS to 31373 for water enquiries.
