The City of Cape Town unveiled a FreeCall line in Masipumele, on 8 August 2013, which will be used by the community to connect directly with the City’s Call Centre with enquiries and service requests.
The pilot phase of this project was launched in July 2009 when four FreeCall lines were installed in City facilities. The roll-out has continued and there are 77 FreeCall lines in outlying areas and lesser advantaged communities in Cape Town and a further 20 lines are set to be connected by the end of the financial year. Many informal settlements, including some without Telkom infrastructure, will benefit from these new lines.
“The purpose of the FreeCall lines is to improve service delivery by increasing access to the City’s Call Centre. We are extending the network of FreeCall telephones to areas where low volumes of service complaints and requests are currently being registered – usually because of a lack of cellphone airtime on the part of the customer or a lack of available telephone lines,” says the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Corporate Services, Alderman Demetri Qually.
The FreeCall lines can be used to contact the City for various enquiries and service requests such as accounts enquiries, refuse collection, illegal dumping, water leaks, sewer blockages, street lights out, pot holes and damaged roads.
“The lines connect directly with the City’s Call Centre number, and residents are encouraged to report faults, register complaints and make enquiries at no cost to them. They will also receive an acknowledgement SMS with reference number for follow up,” says Alderman Qually.
A Call Centre agent will respond to queries from customers using the FreeCall lines and, where further action is required by a particular service department, the complaint or request will be logged by means of a service request. The customer will be provided with a reference number for follow-up purposes.
