By Nangamso Mabindla
7 November 2005

THE City's call centre in Chislehurst, Cambridge, impressed a group of Free State visitors who were in town to investigate how Buffalo City deals with service delivery.

The delegation, from the Matjahabeng Municipality, wanted to find out how the City handles issues of customer care, communication, and relations between the council and the administration.

"They wanted to find out how the administration and the Mayoral Committee work together; how smooth the communication is between the two," said the City's communications manager Darby Gounden. "They wanted to look at how items were generated to council."

The team chose to visit Buffalo City, said Gounden, because of its reputation as an award-winning City, with a Vuna award, a Clean City award, and a Housing and Infrastructure award under its belt.

Various departments made presentations. Human Resources general manager Louis Wulf spoke about the City's performance management strategy, while the manager for organisational support, Gillian Augustine, delivered a presentation on council issues.

"The delegation was particularly impressed with our smooth interaction with our customers," Gounden added, "thanks to our call centre in Chislehurst in Cambridge."

The Matjhabeng team expressed an interest in working closely with Buffalo City and its staff in the future.

Gounden said that one of the ways the two municipalities could help one another was through sharing skills. "We are looking at possibly setting up an exchange, with some of their staff coming here for a few months to learn skills, and some of our staff going there for a few months to give a hand in certain areas."