Cape Town comes out tops in consumer satisfaction survey

The South African Customer Satisfaction Index (SAcsi) has today released findings of its survey measuring the level of satisfaction that consumers of municipal services experience (see here).

As with numerous other independent surveys in recent years, the City of Cape Town has been found to be head and shoulders above other municipalities in South Africa.

Consumers of municipal services across eight of the largest South African metropolitan municipalities have given them an overall satisfaction rating of 60,6 out of 100.

The City of Cape Town's score of 71,6 out of 100 was 17,8% higher than the municipal average and the highest score achieved by any municipality.

According to Professor Adré Schreuder, Founder and Chair of the SAcsi, ‘municipalities should be concerned that even with low expectations, 47% of residents rate the quality of the municipal services as well below their expectations, with the exception of the City of Cape Town'.

The results of the survey also indicate that ‘one in three citizens have taken the trouble to complain to their municipality about (a) problem, with an extremely poor average level of complaint-handling efficiency of 35 out of 100.  Again the City of Cape Town was the exception, scoring 35% higher than the average score for complaint handling.

‘The greatest pain points of municipal residents were revealed to be the quality and reliable supply of water and electricity, the condition of roads (potholes and general maintenance) and the cleanliness of our cities (littering and lack of street cleaning)'.

This survey highlights the fact that, while there is work to be done, the City of Cape Town makes a real and fundamental difference to people's lives with service delivery, including basic infrastructure to ensure that the road are fixed, the lights are on and the water is running for our residents.

The City of Cape Town's sound financial management as demonstrated by its tenth unqualified audit and its focus on pro-poor spending and redress means that, together with our residents, we are using all of our resources to make progress possible for the people who call our city home.

It is pleasing that our hard work and commitment to making this a well-run city are not going unnoticed.

Statement issued by Cape Town Executive Mayor, Patricia de Lille, May 5 2014

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