The City of Cape Town is to appoint more call centre staff to improve its ability to handle residents’ queries and complaints.

By November, another 40 new agents will be trained and ready for service. News of the appointments has been welcomed by the centre’s existing 68 staff members, who handle an average of about 22 500 queries per week from the metropole’s 3.2 million residents.

“Queries range from complaints about streetlights burning during the day to potholes and pipe bursts caused by heavy winter rains,” says Pearl Nongqongqo, head of the City’s Corporate Call Centre.

“We sometimes receive queries from learners requiring help with school projects and even get asked to rescue pets! 

“To assist us in providing the best service possible, we urge residents to provide full details of each complaint – such as street address, account number and the names and surnames of City officials with whom they have been dealing,” she says.

Since the first City call centre opened in 2000, the number of calls has leveled out from 8 000 to 4 200 calls per day.

“To expedite the different types of service queries, the City has established seven dedicated Technical Operations Centres (TOCs), for emergency, electricity, and water-related queries. We also have a dedicated toll free hot line for the Copperheads, the City’s task team dealing with metal theft.

“For quality assurance purposes, all calls are recorded.  To track progress on complaints, callers should always ask for a reference number and the name of the agent that they spoke to,” Nongqongqo concludes.

Please note the following useful numbers for the City of Cape Town: 

Accounts and General Enquiries: 0860 103 089

Copperheads Cable Theft: 0800 222 771 (24 hours)

Electricity Faults/Street lights & Enquiries: 0800 220 440

Water/Sewage Emergencies: 0860 103 054 (24 hours)

Metro Police:  0860 765 423 (24 hours)

Fraud Hotline: 0800 32 31 30

Public Transport timetables: 0800 600 895

Roads, Potholes and Stormwater: 0860 103 054 (24 hours)

Traffic Signal Faults: 0860 001 948 (24 hours)

Wastewise (Disposals only): 021 487 2489