With more than 10,000 electricity complaints logged by Nelson Mandela Bay residents through the metro’s call centres between July 1 and September 30, 5,272 are still waiting for feedback.
A majority of the reported electricity faults were related to overhead lines (4,028), prepaid meters (3,326), cables (2,212) and substations (1,831).
Of the 1,818 street light faults reported, only 330 have been repaired.
This is according to a report tabled at an electricity and energy committee meeting on Thursday.
Councillors raised concerns about the high number of reported faults and dismal response.
EFF councillor Siyabulela Mosi said he was concerned about the shortage of staff at call centres that resulted in temporary closures when staff went on lunch.
“We understand that staff must take a lunch break but I’m concerned about the elderly people who wait there unattended.
“Can we make a plan in the absence of the people designated there?”
DA councillor Pieter Terblanche wanted to know how many call centre agents were deployed in KwaNobuhle and why they did not issue reference numbers after complaints were reported.
“Also, if there’s a power outage, the call centre is also out because there’s no backup electricity, then we have to call the centres here.
“What is our plan to get electricity or have at least two lines that work when there’s a power failure in that area.”
ACDP councillor Lance Grootboom said the report highlighted the huge volume of street light and prepaid meter faults.
“I would like to know why there is a significant backlog in repairing street lights and what the turnaround time is.
“What are we doing to place additional manpower at the call centres.”
Electricity and energy acting executive director Tholi Biyela said the city used the services of 28 clerical staff to mitigate the shortage.
“Regarding lunch breaks, I will have a conversation with the team outside this meeting because I’m of the view that if one goes to lunch then the other must remain so that customers are attended to.
“The network signal in KwaNobuhle also goes off when there’s no electricity, the signal towers might be directly connected and don’t have backup supply.
“There should be an alternative line for when there’s no electricity even if we use a cellphone just to be able to communicate with the residents.”
Biyela admitted that the city suffered a shortage of resources to ensure the optimal running of the centres and reduce the turnaround time in responding to faults.
“We also have challenges from the technical side of things to move from the old to the new system.
“This creates a gap with the teams that attend to the faults, they attend to them but they are not closed in the system.”
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