Johannesburg - South African President Jacob Zuma launched a free-phone presidential hotline on Monday, fulfilling one of his election promises to improve citizens access to their political leaders. Citizens can now phone 17737 to register a complaint with Zuma's office about the provision of public services.
Service delivery is a vexatious topic in South Africa, where the African National Congress-led government has been criticized as being too slow in improving the living conditions in squalid squatter camps and townships. In July, several townships erupted in violent protests.
Zuma himself took two of the calls that began pouring in after 9 am from around the country.
A frustrated woman in Eastern Cape province told Zuma how she had been trying for years to access the pension of her dead husband and complained of being badly treated by the local magistrate's court in the matter, Zuma's spokesman Vincent Magwenya related.
The second call Zuma took was from a man from eastern Johannesburg, who said sewerage pipes had been leaking in his area for months without any attempt by the municipality to fix them.
Zuma noted down their complaints and handed the cases to government staff to troubleshoot.
Within three hours of opening, the line was already showing signs of strain. Several attempts by
