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Joe Mcgluwa, ID National Organiser and Member of Parliament has welcomed the impending launch of the Presidential Hotline, expected to be fully operational on 1 September 2009.

In a reply to a question [below] submitted to the Presidency for written reply by Mr Mcgluwa, the Presidency has confirmed that the Hotline will be established by 1 September 2009 at a cost of ±R4million.

‘The independent Democrats calls on Minister Trevor Manuel to ensure that the Hotline tracks and monitors every complaint until it has been resolved and does not become another ineffective government complaints department,' Mcgluwa says.

In his State of the Nation Address 2009, President Zuma said that the primary reason for the establishment of the Hotline was to improve service delivery.

"While we welcome the establishment of the Hotline, we recognize that its creation is to a fair extent an indictment on the hundreds of ANC Councilors who have failed to service ratepayers in the first place,' says Mcgluwa.

‘It is our hope that the establishment of the Hotline will contribute towards exposing the many "absentee" councillors, thus reducing the recent wave of service delivery protests.

‘Had these councilors executed their responsibilities properly in the first place, there would have been no need to spend over R4million for this project,' Mcgluwa says.

‘Sadly, in its current form the Hotline will mostly benefit only those in the urban areas and will offer no hope to the rural poor, who bear the brunt of Government's poor service delivery record, because it will only be toll free from landlines.

‘Government will also need to embark on an extensive communication campaign on the purpose of the Hotline to ensure that its establishment achieves the intended outcomes,' says Mcgluwa.