BCM rated bottom in new Ipsos survey

BUFFALO City Metro has come out as the worst-performing metro in the country in a survey that rates local government performance.

The metro dropped from the 51% rating it had achieved last year to 13% in July this year in the Ipsos survey, Khayabus.

The study, released on August 3, involved the government performance barometer questioning 3 598 South African residents between April 21 and May 22 2017.

According to the results, a year after the elections BCM suffered a “significant decline” in terms of what residents thought about the metro’s performance.

The survey said that such a significant drop suggested that there might be a total breakdown between residents and local government. “Aside from the metropolitan area of Cape Town and Buffalo City, South Africans have seen a marked improvement in the performance of local government,” the report stated.

BCM scored a meagre 13% in July when residents were asked the question: “How well do you think your local authority is doing their job?”

The respondents, aged 15 years and above, were also asked “how well would you say your local government is handling the delivery of basic services, such as water and electricity?”

BCM scored the lowest with 32% compared with other metros, though Nelson Mandela Bay also scored a low 38%.

For this question, Ekurhuleni metro scored the highest with 78% for good results, Tshwane followed with 62%, Johannesburg scored 59%, Mangaung 49%, Cape Town 47% and Ethekwini 43%.

“Ekurhuleni outperforms all the other metropolitan authorities by a large margin on this issue.

“The scores for Tshwane and Johannesburg showed a steady improvement, especially since the end of last year.

“Scores in Mangaung and Cape Town are slowly slipping, while Ethekwini, Nelson Mandela Bay and Buffalo City can surely all improve.

“Ethekwini is already doing a lot better than during the previous measurement in November 2016,” the report stated.

The DA-controlled metros were highlighted as the best performers overall “as rated by the residents”.

“The score for Nelson Mandela Bay improved [by] 17% points over the last year.”

BCM spokesman Samkelo Ngwenya said the metro treated the Ipsos findings like any research.

“We do not disregard its findings, regardless of the fact that the results are not a true reflection of not even a fraction of the population of our city,” he said.

“We are, however, very advanced in the process of concluding our own independent research, wherein we have conducted a customer satisfaction survey, whose findings will pinpoint exactly which areas of the Buffalo City service experience we need to improve upon and strengthen.

“We are also undertaking a review of our communication strategy, as part of the process to improve the connection that we have with our residents.

“We are striving to create a Buffalo City citizen that is highly empowered with knowledge and information and has many avenues to access us in all forms of communication channels.

“Our leadership is hard at work turning Buffalo City into a construction site, where we are upgrading the infrastructure and repositioning the city in line with our growth and development strategy. We are creating a responsive, innovative and well-governed city in which they [citizens] are a big roleplayer.” —