Pretoria: The Presidential Hotline has boosted its case resolution rate from 39% in 2009 to 94% in 2014.

The hotline was established by President Jacob Zuma in 2009 for members of the public to lodge queries relating to government services, especially in cases where calls to local authorities or national departments are not yielding results.

“We are truly pleased that this instrument has made a difference in the lives of many people. We have been impressed by all spheres of government to sharpen up citizen care mechanisms and ensure that the queries brought by the public are attended to. We must continue to build a caring government,” said Zuma.

More than 180 000 cases have been logged between 2009 and 2013.

Of the 46 932 cases referred to national departments, the Departments of Home Affairs, Human Settlements, Labour, Justice, South African Social Security Agency and Social Development can be singled out as departments that receive high volumes of queries, but have consistently been performing well in terms of responsiveness.

Departments dealing with high numbers of cases that have shown significant improvements in the period 31 January 2012 to 31 January 2013 are: Rural Development (improved from 56.92% to 83.02%), South African Police Service (SAPS) (improved from 47.25% to 80.74%), Correctional Services (improved from 41.25% to 98.68%), and Public Enterprises (improved from 65.02% to 99.01%).

All provinces improved their case resolution rate from inception in 2009 to present, provinces improved by 30% and national departments by 20%. However, this improvement is from a very low performance base of 64% in 2009.

All provinces now have a resolution rate of 80% and above (the minimum target set for performance) except for North West province now at (74.79%) and Eastern Cape province (now at 78.58%). The provinces with the largest number of complaints still to be resolved are KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng, Eastern Cape and North West province. The provinces with the lowest number of complaints still to be resolved are Free State, Limpopo, Northern Cape and Western Cape.