President Jacob Zuma's answer to service delivery problems - his hotline - went live at 9am today.
The R4 million line was initially announced during the state of the nation address and is meant as a means for disgruntled citizens to take matters right to the top.
A statement issued by the Presidency says: “Public liaison officers in the Union Buildings' call centre will start handling calls and responding to public enquiries” from this morning.
The number - 17737 - is toll-free and, while the line is up and running, government will spend the next few weeks perfecting the service and ensuring all technical and operating aspects work efficiently.
Following up
Zuma's hotline and public liaison staff in the Presidency will be backed by 43 newly-assigned public liaison officers in all government departments and offices of premiers. The officers will be responsible for following up the public enquiries and complaints lodged, and ensure these are attended to efficiently.
“The provinces are expected to establish similar services, and to create a forum that includes liaison officers for each municipality so that the service is taken to local government level, including rural municipalities and districts,” the Presidency says.
At the moment, the toll-free number can only be called from landlines as it is blocked from use via cellphones, but government is in talks with mobile operators to remedy this.
The State IT Agency was involved in providing the call centre's technology, which cost taxpayers R1.7 million. It is not clear how the other R2.3 million was spent.
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