The content on this page is not written by Polity.org.za, but is supplied by third parties. This content does not constitute news reporting by Polity.org.za.

The DA today received a reply to a parliamentary question to the Presidency, about the Presidential Hotline. We had asked for some of the key statistics regarding the line and the answers illustrate it is grossly understaffed and many calls are not properly dealt with:

Between 14 September and 30 October 2009:

The total number of calls received was: 445 197
The total number of calls answered by agents was: 58 683 (13%)
The total number of calls disconnected was: 386 514 (87%)
The total number of complaints registered was 21 594
The total number of reference numbers issued was: 23 677

A copy of the reply is available on request.

The quantitative statistics paint a certain picture - of a service that is understaffed and badly run - but in order to get a better qualitative understanding of the problems, that is, how those numbers translate into the experience of ordinary people, it is necessary to set out some context. Only by doing this are we able to illustrate the frustration, incompetence and inefficiency that people experience and which these numbers do not reflect.

A powerful qualitative illustration of the problem is the history of the DA's complaint concerning the appointment of Paul Ngobeni as legal adviser to the Minister of Defence and Military Veterans. We have set out the full history of the complaint below. We believe it to be a fair general reflection of our experience of the hotline (and, no doubt, the experience of many South Africans). Read and judge for yourself.

The curious case of Paul Ngobeni

Who is Paul Ngobeni?

Paul Ngobeni is two things: a fugitive from justice and a legal advisor to the Minister of Defence and Military Veterans (DoD), Lindiwe Sisulu.

Ngobeni is currently facing a series of criminal charges in the state of Connecticut, in the United States of America. They include a charge of forgery in the 3rd degree and three charges of larceny (personal theft), in the 3rd, 4th and 6th degree. He was due to appear in court, in Connecticut, in March 2008 but failed to appear and a warrant for his re-arrest was issued. He is also permanently prohibited from practicing law in Connecticut, after ethical misconduct charges were brought against him. If you type his name into Google, you will find, among other references to Mr Ngobeni, a US bail bond company offering a reward "for useful information" leading to his apprehension, an order from the US Department of Justice forbidding him to practice law and a complaint (summarising seven other complaints) against Mr Ngobeni from the Statewide Grievance Committee.

Ngobeni's work has a political bent too, and he has gone out of his way to ingratiate himself with the ANC in general and Jacob Zuma in particular. In the run-up to Polokwane, Ngobeni formed part of an ANC legal task team, established to advise Zuma on his various legal travails. Prior to the 2009 election, he served as a consultant for the South African Ministry of Housing on various legal matters, including transformation (then, interestingly, also headed up by Lindiwe Sisulu). And, in between, he left the University of Cape Town under a cloud - where he was employed as the Deputy Registrar of Legal Services - and headed up a failed lobby group, which promoted the appointment of controversial Cape High Court Judge President John Hlophe as Chief Justice.

In short, Paul Ngobeni typifies everything that is wrong with Jacob Zuma's administration: mired in controversy, fundamentally compromised and grossly inappropriate for any position in the public service (least of all a legal advisor) he embodies the fact that political loyalty trumps all other concerns when it comes to the ANC's attitude to running the South African government.

Paul Ngobeni and the Presidential Hotline

When President Zuma first launched the Presidential Hotline (as opposed to the re-launch, after its initial failure), he said he wanted to create an "ethos of accountability". He said that there are "many cases relating to abuse of power by government officials at various levels and allegations of fraud and corruption" and argued that "the hotline is an important part of our effort to improve the accessibility, responsiveness and transparency of government." So, Ngobeni's appointment certainly fits the bill. Here was a chance for Zuma's word to become his deed. And so, the first complaint the DA laid was the appointment to the DoD of Paul Ngobeni. We had to wait on hold for 96 minutes to register that (six connected calls, each of which would be cut off after 15 minutes). Encouragingly, the person who registered the complaint for the hotline was fairly astounded at the facts, going so far as to say "he should be in jail".

Well quite. But that was on 14 September 2009, some five months ago, and in that time, the hotline has achieved precisely nothing on this issue. In fact, it has achieved less than nothing because, despite repeated follow-up calls and every attempt to secure a reference number, after 28 days the first thing the hotline was forced to do was admit it had lost the complaint. And so, on 12 October, the DA re-registered the problem. After one month, we were back to square one.

We followed up again on 27 October (43 days since the complaint was first logged) and were told no progress had been made; and on 11 November (58 days) - no progress; and again on 20 November (67 days) and again, no progress.

By the end of November (77 days), we had managed to establish that the complaint had been referred to the DoD and, according to the hotline's ‘computer system' was now officially "under investigation". Any hopes that this actually meant something meaningful was underway, however, were soon dashed. On 1 December (78 days) we received a phone call from an official in the DoD who informed us that there was no record of a Paul Ngobeni being employed by the Department and that the case would be closed. On 4 December (81 days), that call was followed by an e-mail from the DoD "Information Centre", suggesting we contact the Chief Director of Legal Services, in order to locate Mr Ngobeni.

So, to summarise: 28 days - complaint lost; 81 days - complaint referred. That's real progress, ANC style.

Of course the DoD's assertion that it had no record of a Paul Ngobeni was idiotic. So idiotic, in fact, that if one considers that, just over a week prior to that phone call and in response to a DA parliamentary question, the Minister herself had confirmed that Mr Ngobeni was indeed employed by the DoD - "on compensation level IV", she wrote, "He is on R601 761 per annum" - well, the mind boggles.

The DA pointed out this rather glaring oversight to the DoD, who undertook to reopen the matter and refer the problem to the Minister (notice how, by this stage, it is the DA and not the hotline doing the work) and, by mid December (92 days) the case was once again "under investigation". December came and went and so too did January. Indeed, some 155 days have now passed since the DA first registered a complaint against Mr Ngobeni. We have heard nothing further.

The hotline too seems fairly oblivious to it all. A phone call to check how things are going on their side reveals only that the case is still "under investigation".

Smoke and Mirrors

The story behind this particular complaint is not as extraordinary as it might seem. The DA has registered in excess of 20 complaints with the hotline and, if anything, it is typical of the kind of service one receives. It is impossible to get through, if you do get through, there is every chance the hotline will lose your complaint and, if you do manage to actually register a complaint, it will simply be referred to someone else; at which point you might as well have not phoned the hotline in the first place.

It is nothing but a set of smoke and mirrors. A system set up to give the allusion that the ANC government cares but, scratch beneath the surface, and all the trademarks of the poor service delivery and callous customer service that necessitated the hotline in the first place are plain to see.

The hard truth is simply this: the ANC doesn't care about corruption; it doesn't care if Paul Ngobeni works for the government and it doesn't care if you register a complaint with the hotline or not. But it cares about giving you the perception that it cares. It cares about the veneer, the illusion, the grandstanding.

In doing so it underestimates the South African people, indeed, it insults them; and that is where the cracks start to show and the veneer begins to flake away. Time will tell what mark the hotline will leave of South Africa's democracy. President Zuma further stated in this year's State of the Nation Address. "we introduced the Presidential Hotline to make government and the Presidency more accessible to the public; and to help unblock service delivery blockages" So far all it has left is a bad taste in the mouth.