Vodacom, in partnership with the Department of Social Development, launches community Contact Centre in KwaZulu-Natal

Vodacom, in partnership with the KwaZulu Natal Department of Social Development, today launched a Contact Centre, which would allow community members to connect with the department for the purpose of reporting any matters relating to social crisis, including gender-based violence, lack of crèche facilities in their area as well as any other social service delivery requirements.

Over and above the Contact Centre operating as a communication platform to help address these issues, the Centre will also facilitate service delivery improvement, in partnership with all stakeholders, to aid in improving compliance within the department regarding citizen complaints and receiving compliments for great work that has been conducted.

Eleni Kwinana, Executive Head of Department for Vodacom Business KZN said, “For too long, violence against women and children in previously disadvantaged communities have remained a hidden scandal in our homes and communities. Gender-based violence affects too many families in South Africa. The only way for us to end this vicious cycle is to empower victims of gender-based violence, and the best way for us to help speed up service delivery is through the use of technology tools that the 4th Industrial revolution wave comes with, being super fast connectivity, cloud solutions, Big Data, IoT, and Enterprise Mobility.”

The introduction of the Contact Centre will strengthen the service standards of the Department of Social Development, as well as create effective and efficient means of managing complaints. Vodacom’s partnership with the municipalities across the country is aimed at promoting active citizenry communication and help government manage service delivery issues faced by community members.

“At Vodacom, we get involved in initiatives that will ensure victims of violence and any social need have access to qualified help. We fully support the strategy of the Victim Empowerment Programme and we look forward to enhancing this initiative, hence our continual engagement with the Department of Social Development. Gender-based violence is not acceptable in a country where people have equal rights. By providing relevant communication and technology solutions, we can help change the lives of people living in our communities, as per the principles of Batho Pele” Eleni Kwinana, Executive Head for Vodacom Business KZN