Interview with Mbulelo Baba: City Ombudsman, City of Cape Town Municipality

 What is the primary function of the Office of the City Ombudsman?
In brief: to deal with complaints about the City of Cape Town.

My office’s primary focus is to investigate and resolve complaints from members of the public over alleged acts of maladministration involving the City of Cape Town (which is a metropolitan municipality with an executive mayoral system, and is also sometimes referred to as the unicity, local government, local authority, council or administration of Cape Town).

Council created the Ombudsman’s Office as an independent office to deal with complaints against the Administration.  The Ombudsman’s Office forms part of the Office of the City Manager, due to the Ombudsman’s direct reporting line to the City Manager, as a result of the requirement for independence from other organisational units.

Describe a brief anecdote or case study to illustrate how your office operates.
The Ombudsman provides an alternative conflict resolution service by undertaking independent investigations into complaints where the City Administration, for example, has not acted properly, or fairly, or provided a poor service, and/or by facilitating the resolution of such complaints in liaison with the relevant departments.

A large portion of the complaints for the past financial year were accounts related, and a significant number of complaints emanated from a lack of response, inadequate communication or no response at all.  

Case summary example:
The complainant had lodged a complaint with the municipality’s call centre and given a reference number, but according to him no action had been taken relating to the incorrect water billing registered on his invoice.

The complainant then approached the Office of the City Ombudsman. My Office looked into the matter. During the facilitation process we liaised with the water department, an Inspector was sent out to the property, the water meter in question was read and it was finally established that the billing was indeed incorrect. My office accordingly recommended that the incorrect billing be put right. The department accepted this recommendation, and the matter has since been corrected on the complainant’s invoice.  

When should a consumer lodge a complaint with the office of the City Ombudsman?
In summary: When your complaint about the municipality of Cape Town is not resolved by the relevant department in the administration, you can lodge a complaint with the City Ombudsman. Your complaint will be assessed to make sure it is a matter for the Ombudsman.    

This is usually so when any act or omission has been committed by the administration or by an employee of the administration and it has the impact of infringing upon a person or institution’s right to fair administrative action, or may result in manifestly inequitable, unfair, irregular or unprocedural treatment.

It is important to note that the Ombudsman serves as a catalyst between the Administration and a complainant in order to facilitate, as far as possible, an amicable conclusion of the matters under dispute. Our Office usually acts as a last internal resort and the process is a voluntary option for conflict resolution.

The Ombudsman does not make binding decisions, mandate policies, or formally adjudicate issues for the organization. Our Office has recommending powers and implementation rests with the departments concerned.

What 3 tips can you offer our readers?

How long have you been the Cape Town City Ombudsman and what do you enjoy most about your position?
The Office of the City Ombudsman was founded in 2002, after the City saw a need for an independent dispute resolution mechanism, to investigate and resolve complaints by residents about City services and facilitate processes such as mediation and conciliation. Both my title and occupation is fascinating! Ombudsman is the Swedish word for “commissioner” or an independent “representative” of people. I enjoy being in a position that is fundamentally an organ of democracy.

How many employees does your organisation have?
The organisation we serve has over 20 000 employees in total. The Office of the Ombudsman is relatively small with a staff complement of 11 dedicated people.

What publications do you produce?
Our office publishes a bi-annual newsletter, ‘OmbudsmanWrites’, which can be found on our website. We are planning to publish our first independent Annual Report this year. There are also various informational brochures which we publish regularly to create awareness about the office.

How many complaints has your office handled over the last year?
A total number of 1739 complaints were dealt with during the past financial year (July 2007 – June 2008)

What is the average time taken to deal with complaints?
The office will on receipt of the complaint, issue a letter of acknowledgement. The complainant will be kept informed of the progress. The final response depends on the complexity of the matter and the cooperation of the department(s) involved. The aim is to finalise all matters as soon as possible but some cases could take up to 3 months or even longer to finalise.

What is the average cost per complaint handled?
The Office of the City Ombudsman provides a free service to our customers.

If possible, please you could provide statistics on complaint outcomes achieved and consumer satisfaction levels.
A sample survey was conducted in June 2008 to evaluate consumer satisfaction. Respondents contacted were very positive about the manner in which their cases were handled. 76% indicated that they were happy with the service received, 60% indicated that they felt that there were improvements as a result of the office recommendations.

The acceptance of my office’s recommendations to line departments is important in view of the fact that the Ombudsman does not make binding decisions, mandate policies, or formally adjudicates issues. It functions on an informal basis and attempts to resolve complaints amicably. The last quarter saw 59% of recommendations accepted, which exceeds our target of 55%.