The Presidential Hotline will receive R16 million for the 2011/12 financial year.
National Treasury, in the Medium Term Budget Policy Statement released this week, allocated a figure of R16.254 million to the hotline, which was set up by president Jacob Zuma to ensure citizens have easier access to the Presidency.
This comes after the Democratic Alliance (DA) said the hotline has been a waste of government funds, since it's not something to be proud of, despite the amount of money spent on it already.
The new allocation of funds was listed in the adjusted budget summary for the Department of Performance Monitoring and Evaluation.
Treasury described the sum as unforeseeable and unavoidable expenditure and listed it under Public Sector Administration Oversight.
The money is allocated for the payment of service providers and the operational expenditure of the hotline.
Of the R16.254 million, R4.026 million will be received from the Presidency.
Validating hotline
The hotline turned two in September and the Presidency claimed it had a resolution rate of 75%.
Cabinet said this achievement demonstrates that the hotline is effective and has been well received and used by citizens at large.
“The Presidential Hotline validates the posture of government being in touch with the people.”
The hotline, which can be reached on 17737, went live in September 2009, and deals with complaints related to employment, housing, law, citizenship, potable water, social benefits, corruption, electricity, education, roads and health.
Disastrous waste
DA parliamentary leader Athol Trollip says the official opposition party welcomes any improvement in the performance of the hotline, because it has underperformed since its inception.
“In terms of the 75% figure, what worries me is there is no test. There is no evidence or proof of the validity of this figure.
“It's very thinly credible that the performance could go from the very low resolution rate of 25% to 75% in a very short space of time.”
Trollip describes the state of the hotline as “shambolic”, and says the hotline has not been a success, but rather a complete disaster. “For the amount of money we have spent on the hotline, it's really not something to be proud of.”
In its first year of operation, the hotline had been allocated almost R12 million of state funds, according to the DA.
Share