By Nangamso Mabindla
5 December 2007

WITH the opening of the Departmental Customer Care Call Centre Eastern Cape, motorists are able to report any problems they encounter on the provincial road network.

The centre was launched by the MEC for roads and transport, Thobile Mhlahlo, as part of the Operation Safer Festive Season Arrive Alive campaign on Monday, 3 December, in East London.

Mhlahlo said the centre would be a centralised office used to receive and transmit a large volume of requests by road users.

Its main function is to ensure a contact point for the department's staff, customers, stakeholders and the public for all their complaints and enquiries. It will also be a tool for road users to inform the department of any issues, including road accidents, potholes, public transport challenges and stray animals on the road.

"If people see potholes on our roads, they can phone or use multimedia to contact our customer care centre. We will then link up with the relevant department to deal with the problem," Mhlahlo said.

He said the opening of the centre would help to boost the delivery of services. "There will be different functionaries within the call centre and this will make it a contact centre for our customers."

Call centre agents' work stations will include a computer and a telephone with a headset connected to a telecommunications switch. There is also a slide show presentation to show visitors the deadly accidents caused by speed, alcohol abuse and fatigue. A map outlines some of the province's high accident areas.