The query backlog at the revenue department of the City of Johannesburg has been reduced by more than 66 000, but more than 70 000 still remain, executive Mayor Amos Masondo said on Wednesday.
Addressing a media conference on the problems experienced in the revenue department, Masondo said a new, more efficient system has been put in place to deal with the backlog in queries.
”Since February, through the hiring of additional personnel and the establishment of a dedicated query resolution team, we resolved 66 300 queries but a backlog of 73 700 still remains,” he said.
The contracts of three meter-reading contractors were not renewed due to bad performance. They are Jencon, Gijima, and Intellectual Concepts and Designs.
The council retained the services of Rybbytad, Global, Add X and AMRT.
Masondo said stringent penalty clauses have been included in these companies’ contracts. This is to ensure more accurate meter readings.
More than 400 people have been trained in Batho Pele (people first) principles, the mayor said.
”The city is working on a culture of putting people first, treating them with respect and going the extra mile to help solve the customer queries.”
Although the city has made significant progress in resolving query backlogs in the revenue department, many challenges still remain.
Masondo said the challenges will be addressed in terms of certain principles.
These include:
<
li>Municipal services must be paid for to ensure service delivery;
- Free basic services must be provided to address issues of affordability;
- Batho Pele: customers must be well-treated;
- Billing must be accurate and timely; and
- Queries and errors must be dealt with quickly.
”We have made some progress [since February], but we have some way to go,” Masondo said. — Sapa