The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Dawid Kruiper has requested the Municipal Public Accounts Committee (MPAC) to investigate fruitless and wasteful expenditure incurred in relation to the municipality’s dysfunctional call centre.
Out of twenty community complaints relating to Upington service delivery issues that I reported on the Whatsapp line during January, only seven were registered. The remaining 65% of my complaints were abandoned. What then of the hundreds of complaints laid by other councillors and members of the public since the call centre opened its doors in October last year?
The situation points to a critical service delivery crisis in Dawid Kruiper, where water leaks are left unattended all accross the municipal area and sewage is left to flow in the street in Valleiweg in Extension because no street numbers exist.
The call centre’s failure to take all service delivery complaints seriously, defeats the purpose of establishing it. It also brings into question the value for money of transitioning office space into a call centre, and of appointing salaried personnel to operate the centre.
Dawid Kruiper’s call centre flop shows that it doesn’t take responsibility for restoring basic services to the residents it is expected to serve.
All complaints should be registered, not only those recorded at the discretion of the staff. The lack of an official address also cannot be used to disregard complaints stemming from informal settlements. This was already agreed upon in council, where the municipality committed to avail maps to call centre staff to help pin the locations of the reported complaints, in the absence of house and erf numbers.
In addition to our request for an MPAC investigation into the financial wastage at the call centre, the DA will continue to fight for better service delivery in Dawid Kruiper. A local government that hangs up on its clients’ complaints, must hang up its gloves in the upcoming 2026 municipal elections.