TNS Survey: The full picture

On Wednesday, the City of Cape Town published its annual Community Satisfaction Survey. The survey is undertaken every year in order to establish how satisfied residents are with the City's performance. Significantly, the City of Cape Town is the only metro in South Africa to undertake such a survey.

The purpose of the survey is to guide the City's response to the concerns of citizens. Unless it identifies concerns, a government cannot properly respond to them. The DA believes that ANC-run cities should also make use of such a mechanism. The ANC needs to explain why its city governments do not bother to find out how residents feel about the service they get. Does the ANC not care about how residents feel, or is it too afraid to find out? 

The key findings of Cape Town's 2011 Community Satisfaction Survey are as follows:

• Sixty two percent of residents interviewed said that overall, the City of Cape Town's performance was good, very good or excellent (up from 57% in 2009/10, 54% in 2008/9 and 50% in 2007/8)
• Sixty two percent of residents rate the City of Cape Town as good, very good or excellent in fulfilling its role as a public service provider (up from 58% in 2009/10, 54% in 2008/9 and 46% in 2007/8)
• Sixty six percent of residents rate their level of trust in the City of Cape Town as fairly strong, very strong or extremely strong (the same as 2009/10 and up from 50% in 2007/8 and 61% in 2008/9)

A high level of satisfaction continues for essential services (refuse collection, water, sanitation, electricity and street lighting) and community services (libraries, sports facilities, halls and beaches).  Parks maintenance needs improved attention, however.

Satisfaction levels improved for Public Transport and Fire and Emergency services and are stable for Law Enforcement.

Housing and Health, functions run in conjunction with the National and Provincial Governments, remain areas of concern and will require additional attention.

Overall, since 2007, the City's performance is up almost everywhere. Of the eight districts polled, five showed a marked increase in satisfaction levels over the four year period under review, while satisfaction levels in 3 districts have remained roughly the same and one (Khayelitsha) has shown a decline. Compared to last year's survey, one district (Khayelitsha) has stabilised and two have seen marginal declines in satisfaction levels.

Rating on the overall performance of the City of Cape Town

OVERALL: 2007/08 (mean score: 2.4); 2008/09 (2.6); 2009/10 (2.6); 2010/11 (2.7)
Northern District: 2007/08 (2.4); 2008/09 (3.0); 2009/10 (2.9); 2010/11 (3.2)
Eastern District: 2007/08 (2.4); 2008/09 (2.5); 2009/10 (2.7); 2010/11 (3.1)
Tygerberg District: 2007/08 (2.2); 2008/09 (2.8); 2009/10 (2.6); 2010/11 (2.9)
Southern District: 2007/08 (2.3); 2008/09 (2.4); 2009/10 (2.6); 2010/11 (2.7)
Mitchells Plain District: 2007/08 (2.2); 2008/09 (2.4); 2009/10 (2.2); 2010/11 (2.6)
Khayelitsha District: 2007/08 (2.9); 2008/09 (2.7); 2009/10 (2.5); 2010/11 (2.5)
Western District: 2007/08 (2.5); 2008/09 (2.5); 2009/10 (2.7); 2010/11 (2.5)
Klipfontein District: 2007/08 (2.6); 2008/09 (2.3); 2009/10 (2.5); 2010/11 (2.4)

Increases and declines in satisfaction cut across both rich and poor areas.

For instance, satisfaction levels have improved significantly in Mitchells Plain, a poorer community in the city (from 2.2. up to 2.6). The Tygerberg and Eastern Districts also include large areas in which poorer people live, and registered improved satisfaction.  The Northern and Southern Districts are relatively wealthier areas and also recorded improvement in satisfaction levels.

In those three areas where there had not been an improvement, the following points are important:

In Khayelitsha, a gradual decline in satisfaction levels from 2007 (mean score: 2.9) through to 2011 (2.5) has now stabilised and we believe this is the beginning of that trend being reversed. This is a significant achievement. The City, like the rest of the country, is emerging from a recession and, hopefully, this fact together with a continued focus on service delivery in this area will see satisfaction levels improve next year.

In Klipfontein, although the level declined fractionally this year (to 2.4), the year's result is an improvement on the 2008 figure and also constitutes proof that the City is beginning to make a real and tangible difference in the lives of the people who live in these areas.

In the Western District satisfaction levels are where they were in 2007 (2.5), but have declined fractionally from 2010 (2.7). Here too the City will continue to strive to improve. The Western District is in general more affluent (it includes Camps Bay, Sea Point, Green Point, the City Bowl, Milnerton, Table View and Atlantis). The fact that satisfaction levels in this district have dropped demonstrate that this trend is not particular to poorer areas.

It must be noted that the survey measures residents' subjective perceptions and is not an objective measure of actual City expenditure.  The City of Cape Town has poured a tremendous amount of time and energy into Cape Town's poorer areas. And its service delivery track record in such places as Khayelitsha is significant. We have set out this record in some detail in the document ‘A City for All the People'. But some key deliverables include the following on the Khayelitsha district:

Total investment in services infrastructure, transport interchange, clinics, amenities such as community centres, a youth centre, a library, an early childhood centre, sports facilities and a business hub come to R1.067 billion.  A further R810 million has been invested in housing in Khayelitsha.

A total of R 69 million has been spent on health care;

Other government sectors have also invested significantly in Khayelitsha: PRASA has invested in the Khayelitsha Rail Extension Project, (R430m).  The provincial Government is currently building the Khayelitsha District Hospital (R500m).

A pilot project in Khayelitsha undertaken by the City, in conjunction with the Provincial Government of the Western Cape and Medicins Sans Frontieres, which has focused on a new, patient-centred approach to TB treatment. Not only has there been a marked decline in MDR-resistant TB in the area, but the time between infection and treatment of the disease has been dramatically reduced.

The City of Cape Town, in conjunction with its partners in the SAPS, community and foreign governments and donors, has made the people of Khayelitsha safer through the Violence Prevention through Urban Upgrading (VPUU) Programme.

All of these outcomes, and numerous others, are evidence of the DA-led administration's absolute and complete dedication to improving the lives of those indigent, unemployed and destitute people who often live in the most wretched conditions and difficult circumstances. The City remains steadfastly committed to improving their lives and delivering to them the highest possible services.

These major investments in Khayelitsha have significantly improved conditions in the township, but it is likely that at least another five years of sustained investment will be needed to turn Khayelitsha to the point where the private sector is willing to invest significantly.  That is the real objective if the local economy is to become self-sustaining to the level that supports residents' desires for jobs and safety.

Cape Town is the only metro to undertake a citizen satisfaction survey. As a result, we cannot compare Cape Town to other metros, at least not on an income level basis. However a privately undertaken TNS survey (separate from the one commissioned by the City) recently found that Cape Town had the highest customer satisfaction levels out of any metro in the country - a finding reflected by the ‘Quality of Life Survey' undertaken by the Gauteng province, which found the highest satisfaction levels in that province were in Midvaal, the only municipality run by the DA in Gauteng.

Quite clearly, where the DA governs more people are satisfied. The challenges facing the City of Cape Town in the future are significant, especially in those disadvantaged areas and communities. The DA remains absolutely committed to delivering for all the people in Cape Town but especially to transforming the lives of the poor and underprivileged.

Statement issued by Ian Neilson, DA PR Ward Candidate for the City of Cape Town, April 15 2011

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