What is the primary function of the Office of the City Ombudsman?
In brief: to deal with complaints about the City of Cape Town.
When should a consumer lodge a complaint with your office?
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.
What 3 tips can you offer our readers?
- First try to resolve your complaint through the relevant departments concerned.
- Make sure you have sufficient details of your complaint, i.e. all relevant facts such as names of people you have dealt with, dates, times, etc. and submit all the necessary supporting documents pertaining to your complaint.
- All complaints have to be brought to the attention of the Office of the City Ombudsman within 12 months of the event or occurrence.
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)
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 adjudicate 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%.
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