Manzini Municipality Celebrates Customer Service Week
…Municipality appreciates nomination for Customer Service Awards
In line with the Customer Focus Principle of the ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management Standard, Manzini Municipality joined the world in celebrating the 2023 Customer Service Week from the 2nd to the 6th October 2023 under the theme “Team Service”. Customer Service Week is an international celebration that calls for attention to the importance of customer service and the people who provide it. As part of celebration of Customer Service Week, the Municipality rolled out a number of activities that were aimed at showing appreciation to employees for their hard work and dedication to provision of quality service to the people of Manzini. The activities were also aimed at raising awareness of the value of customer service as well as bolstering employee morale and teamwork. The Municipality further sensitized employees on the importance of listening to customers and timely attending to customer service requests. The Municipality’s management team also visited various municipal facilities, including public toilets, wherein they interacted with employees and customers. All of these activities proved to be a great morale booster for the employees. On another note, the Municipality would like to express her appreciation for the nomination to the upcoming 2023 Customer Service Awards under the category of ‘Local Authority of the Year’. This is an indication of great customer experience by city citizens and all other consumers of the Municipality’s service offering. The recognition inspires the Municipality to work even harder in its quest to ensure excellent customer service provision to city citizens and all other stakeholders. It also inspires the Municipality to put more effort towards driving the city to realisation of its vision of being “a vibrant African City that innovatively provides quality service and economic opportunities to its stakeholders”.
…URBAN OCTOBER: 31 DAYS OF PROMOTING A BETTER URBAN FUTURE
The City of Manzini is this month celebrating Urban October. Urban October is an annual initiative of the UN-Habitat. It was developed to raise awareness, promote participation, generate knowledge and engage the international community in creating a better urban future. Every October, the UN-Habitat and partners organize a month of activities, events and discussions on urban sustainability. Urban October is an opportunity for people around the world to join the conversation around the challenges and opportunities created by the fast pace of change in cities and towns. National and local governments, universities, non-governmental organizations, communities, and other stakeholders who are involved in sustainable urbanization are encouraged to hold or participate in activities, events, and discussions. Urban October begins with World Habitat Day at the start of the month and ends with World Cities Day on 31st October. World Habitat Day, under the theme “Resilient urban economies” focuses on the role that cities play in recovery after crises, be it the Covid-19 pandemic, economic downturn, conflicts or climate emergencies. It explores ways in which cities can position their economies to benefit residents and create resilience. The City of Manzini aligns with the above-mentioned theme through, amongst others, delivery of quarterly inner city and township flea markets, promotion of waste recycling and clean-up campaigns as well as city greening initiatives. The Municipality is also in the process of reviewing its Local Economic Development Strategy as well as the Disaster Risk Management.
… MONENI TOWNSHIP FLEA MARKET A SUCCESS
The Municipal Council of Manzini last Saturday hosted yet another successful township flea market in Moneni. Residents of Ward 9 (Moneni, Masekweni and Inyoni Park) came out in their numbers to sell their commodities; ranging from snacks, cool drinks, slush, indigenous chickens, home-made floor polish, home-made sta-soft, home-made vaseline, cosmetics, Tupperware products and confectionery. Moreover, various institutional stakeholders including Eswatini MTN, Eswatini Post and Telecommunications Corporation (EPTC), BSA Training Centre, MSF (Doctors without borders) as well as the Eswatini National Youth Council (ENYC) participated in the event to promote their products and services. A kiddies’ corner was also abuzz with activities ranging from dance competitions, jumping castle and water slide. Township flea markets are one of the ways through which the Municipality promotes socio-economic empowerment at the community level as well as enhance community cohesion through a fun-filled atmosphere themed ‘Know Your Neighbor’. During such flea markets, residents mingle and share ideas on how to improve their communities. The next township flea market will be held on the 28th October 2023 within Ward 11 (Wilmer Park/Extension 7).
… INNER CITY FLEA MARKET 4th NOVEMBER
The Municipal Council of Manzini will on Saturday 4th November 2023 host its quarterly flea market along Louw Street; between 7am and 5pm. Louw Street is the street between Eswatini Bank and Bhunu Mall. The flea market is one of the ways in which the Municipality contributes to citizen economic recovery following crises such as the Covid-19 pandemic, economic downturn and others. Registration for stalls opens on Thursday 26th October and closes on the 27th October 2023, at the Manzini civic offices, between 8am and 3:30pm. Stalls are limited. Individual stalls cost E80 whilst institutional ones cost E300.