The Gauteng provincial government launched a "service delivery hotline" that Premier Nomvula Mokonyane has described as a "problem-solving tool".

Mokonyane, who was at pains to explain how different the hotline was from the many other hotlines already in operation, said this one "will be taking government closer to where the problem is.

"This is not a hotline, it is a problem-solving tool."

The premier, who was flanked by members of her executive committee and mayors of some of the municipalities in the province, launched the hotline yesterday at the Grace Bible Church in Pimville, Soweto.

Essentially, the difference between the hotline and others that have preceded it, said Mokonyane, was that this one will not just log calls and end there. "We will take it beyond referral."

She said queries will be referred to relevant departments, community development workers, municipalities and councillors, with regular follow-ups until their logical conclusion.

"The hotline focuses on improving service delivery by providing accurate, reliable and timeous information to the residents of Gauteng on all services rendered by government."

The centre, said Mokonyane, has already received about 95000 calls since its "soft launch" about a year ago. "It is encouraging to note that of the total calls logged with the Premier's Hotline, 70% of them have been resolved. About 30% were resolved at departmental and municipal level," she said, adding that queries ranged from housing, electricity cut-off and installation, billing systems across municipalities, fraud and corruption, customer service, long queues in frontline desks, to request for tar roads and maintenance thereof.

The tremendous decline in service-delivery protests in the province over the past year was an indication that people now have access to information, she said.

Seventy call centre agents will be employed by the centre, which will operate between 7am and 10pm.