It just rings and rings . . .

THABAZIMBI – Complaints about the lack of service, especially when contacted by phone, of the Municipality are getting more frequent, and residents are getting very frustrated. One of these complainants said that he tried to reach the Municipality for more than two hours on Monday, 12 November, and finally decided to go there in person, all the way from out of town. Not a very effective way of getting things done. This person is in the process of starting a factory in Thabazimbi, a very important person for the development and progress of the town. Enquiries at the Municipality proved that certain problems exist with the telephone system. The owner of the switchboard agreed to send technicians to fix the switchboard which can handle twelve lines, but two of those lines are out of order. It seems that if a call comes through on one of those lines it just keeps on ringing. Apart from the switchboard there are apparently also problems on Telkom’s side, but those have not been addressed. Enquiry brought to light that of the almost 300 staff working for the Municipality, about 70 have administrative jobs and need to be accessible by phone. The question is whether ten telephone lines are adequate to serve a Municipality this size or whether the problem lies elsewhere? Some of the municipal employees have made themselves available to be reached on their cell phones and even return phone calls, such as the technical manager, Cornelius Booysen. These cell phone numbers, however, are not freely available and the public do not always know who they should ask for. According to the Municipality the switchboard is not operational over lunch time between one and two o’clock daily. After-hour numbers are given if the Municipality is phoned after 16:30 in case of an emergency. For the purpose of this article the extension numbers of some officials are given. Once the number of the Municipality is phoned (014)777-1525 and the voice comes on, the extension number can be dialed. The extension for the municipal manager is X104 or X103, for the town planner X129, for account enquiries X132, X133, X145 or X131, for building plans X157, for water and sewage X155 and electricity X159. The extension for traffic and fire brigade is X162 and X163, for the library X166 and expenditure X137. The mayor’s office’s extension is X107 and X109. An additional problem with an inadequate municipal telephone service is that Thabazimbi is a growing town who receives many visitors and tourists. What service and what impression do they get if the first line of contact, namely that of telephone, has broken down? They would have to suffer the same frustrations as the locals. And then: if they are lucky enough to get through to the municipality, they would have to be informed that the tourism office of the Municipality is shutting down? The municipal manager, Mr R Nkhumise, was approached for comment, but he declined. Another attempt to contact him for his comment was made at a later stage but the phone at the municipal offices just kept on ringing.