By Nangamso Mabindla
25 July 2005

IN AN effort to improve customer satisfaction and loyalty, the Buffalo City Municipality is developing a Service Delivery Charter.

The charter will outline clearly, in writing, the quality and level of services that customers can expect from the municipality.

Last week the City held workshops with various directorates to show the importance of working in unison to deliver services. City communications manager Darby Gounden said the charter would also establish a social pact between providers of municipal services and customers.

"We want to improve awareness of the availability and quality of municipal services on offer, and thus establish a platform for a municipal performance commitment and accountability in relation to specified service standards," she said.

The pubic had high expectations of the City when it came to the delivery of services, and through the charter the City would know what its customers expected.

"We need to state clearly what we offer and how we plan to achieve our goals. We also need to know what our customers expect of us," Gounden said.

The charter would be in line with the City's Customer Care Survey.

Early this year Buffalo City, supported by the national Treasury, undertook a survey that aimed to assist the municipality in its drive to be more customer-orientated in the delivery of services.

Municipal services canvassed 2 000 households, looking at traffic services, grass cutting, water, electricity, roads and others. "We would like this charter to speak to the results of the survey and to the expectations of our customers," Gounden said.

Even though the charter would be in line with the principles of Batho-Phele (People First), the City would look at the unique needs of its citizens. "Buffalo City has its own challenges, so we need to cater for those while adhering to the principles of Batho-Phele," she said.

The charter would act as a guide to what the City wanted to achieve. "This will put customers at ease because they will now understand what the City can achieve. We will work better with our people because they will now know how we plan to serve them."

For this to be successful all directorates needed to work together and in line with the city vision of being a people-centered municipality.