City ombudsman seeks more clients
ALEXANDRA - In its six months of existence, City of Joburg's first Ombudsman's office has handled thousands of complaints and queries from residents and businesses and, plans an outreach to council's seven regions to access as many people as possible.
In its six months of existence, City of Joburg’s ombudsman’s office has handled thousands of complaints and queries from residents and businesses.
The office in Houghton opened on 1 July last year and is responsible for investigating complaints impartially and confidentially, reporting findings and mediating fair settlements. Its establishment was welcomed by Public Protector Advocate Thuli Madonsela, who described it as a move in the right direction.
At its inception, Mayor Parks Tau said the office was “in line with the City’s Growth and Development Strategy 2040’s call for its employees and leadership to embrace good governance practices and to be responsive, accountable, efficient and productive in their duties”.
The City, he added, sought to ensure that customers and citizens felt acknowledged through a customer care approach that puts people first, and the office of the ombudsman would hold everyone in the City’s administration accountable.
The office of the ombudsman is headed by Advocate Siduduzo Gumede and has 13 staff members. The office has attended to more than 1 500 inquiries, 600 of which became actual cases with 96 resolved.
“Of the cases opened from 1 January this year, 433 are billing queries, 36 on property valuations and rates, 12 on development planning, nine on water and sanitation and the balance on other services,” read a statement issued by the ombudsman.
“More than 270 were walk-ins and there seems to be a desire from disgruntled residents to deal face-to-face with the office. Occasionally, we handle up to 400 inquiries a month.”
The office’s case handling process involves filing a complaint with supporting documentation, and complainants were urged to first give the city council an adequate opportunity to address the matter before escalating it to the ombudsman.
The office acknowledged instances of delays in resolving some cases and attributed this to limited staff capacity and systems needed to improve the turnaround times and to streamline processes.
Details: 087 980 0058; 0102882800; info@joburgombudsman.org.za
