Trying to get information, or answers to a particular question, from your local authority (in South Africa we have large metro cities and many municipalities) can be a trying task.
Over the years, my experience of dealing with the City of Cape Town has been a good one. I’ll limit this blog post to my experience with the City of Cape Town, since this is what I know and it works. Always bear in mind that certain issues are not within the power of the City to resolve (e.g. queries that relate to issues of National or Provincial exclusive governance, a list of which can be found in Schedules 4 and 5 of the Constitution of South Africa, 1996).
It usually helps if you can get into contact with the right person to answer your query as soon as possible. My first port of call for service delivery related questions is to phone the City’s Call Centre, or you can try to create a service request online. The important thing is get some kind of reference number for your query and the name of the person you dealt with (it helps to keep a written “diary” of the dates, times, and names of people you’ve spoken to).
If your query is not resolved and a few business days have passed, without hearing back from the City, you should email your local Ward Councillor (a searchable directory is available by clicking here). It’s good to keep in mind that the City has its own staff to carry out the work and political office bearers who keep oversight. A Ward Councillor is a political office bearer and sits as a representative of a particular ward on the City Council (a legislative body). Each ward is grouped with some others into a sub-council. Each sub-council has a Manager who is employed by the City to ensure that service delivery runs smoothly (a searchable directory of sub-council Managers is available by clicking here).
When you email your Ward Councillor it’s advisable to copy in the relevant sub-council Manager. Put in the details of your query as clearly and with as much detail as necessary (including the call centre reference number).
Usually queries are resolved at this level. If there is still no resolution, the next step is to email the Mayor’s office (click here for details) and copy in the City Manager (click here for details). Provide a brief summary of your query (including reference numbers) and a few details of your interactions with the City which have been unsuccessful. You may hear back from a Mayoral Executive Committee member’s (MAYCO) office (usually not directly from the Mayor) in response to your query, or a senior City official (usually from the office of an Executive Director) will contact you back to attempt to resolve the query.
If there is still no resolution and you’ve exhausted your attempts to work with the MAYCO or Mayor’s office, you can contact the City’s Ombud. The Ombud’s office will mediate, as an impartial third party, in trying to resolve your query. It’s rare for a problem to remain unresolved after the Ombud has investigated and mediated. Should the matter remain unresolved, then it is likely to be a legal issue. You would need to seek the advice of an attorney to assist in resolving such a matter.
Even though you may be experiencing a high level of stress, it is inexcusable to swear at, name-call, or defame any City political office bearer or City employee. Always relay facts and relevant information. Try to avoid detailing emotions, unless the context requires it.
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