New CT help lines bring emergency services closer

The City of Cape Town has installed a number of FreeCall lines across the city to bring municipal services closer to residents, no matter where they live.

Most importantly, during the winter season, these lines also make it easier for communities to contact the City to report faults.

The City has installed 67 FreeCall lines in outlying areas and disadvantaged communities and a further 20 lines are set to be connected by the end of July 2013. Many informal settlements, including some where there is no Telkom infrastructure, will benefit from these new lines.

“We are extending the network of FreeCall telephones to areas where low volumes of service complaints and requests are currently being registered – usually because of a lack of landlines or cellphone airtime on the part of residents,” said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Corporate Services, Alderman Demetri Qually.

The FreeCall lines can be used to contact the City for various enquiries and service requests such as illegal dumping, water leaks, sewer blockages, refuse collection, street lights that are out, pot holes, damaged roads and account enquiries.

“The lines connect directly with the City’s Call Centre number and cost the caller nothing,” said Alderman Qually.

Residents who make use of normal landlines or cellphones, should contact the City to report:

• Flooding, blocked drains and service disruptions to the Call Centre on 0860 103 089;
• All life- and property-threatening emergency situations: please call 107 from a landline or 021 480 7700 from a mobile phone. You will then be transferred to the nearest relevant emergency service provider;
• For all public transport-related matters, the City’s Transport Information Centre can be contacted on 0800 65 64 63.

Residents are also encouraged to use the SMS numbers for water- and electricity-related faults – especially during times when the Call Centre is experiencing high volumes of calls. The reports sent via SMS are channelled directly to the respective technical operations centres for attention:

• Water-related faults can be reported via SMS (max. 160 characters) to 31373.
• Electricity-related faults can be reported via SMS (max. 160 characters) to 31220.