Oudtshoorn Mayor, Colan Sylvester has hailed the ground-breaking citizen engagement mobile application (APP), which is set to provide easy and direct municipal communication, as a game-changer that will enhance participatory democracy.
Mayor Sylvester was addressing attendees during an official launch of the Municipal App hosted by the Minister of Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning, Anton Bredell.
“The key to successful local government is to unlock these life changing opportunities through creating an E-society and smart towns by using technology as an enabler to harness service delivery,” said Sylvester.
The APP is the latest technological development by die Western Cape Department of Local Government, following standardized websites for municipalities rolled out in 2016. Initially ten Municipalities were provided with these standardized websites. This has since been expanded to 19 out of the 30 municipalities in the province.
“This APP will take local government, its decisions and processes straight into the homes of citizens and provide them with a real opportunity to take an active part in how their municipalities are managed. There will no longer be a need to attend council meetings or town hall meetings to be able to partake in municipal processes.”
The APP is currently being piloted in following five municipalities across the province: Oudtshoorn, Langeberg, Overstrand, Laingsburg Swartland and municipalities.
Some of the APP’s key features:
- Providing a direct channel of communication with the Municipality;
- This will enhance decision-making process and
- Enable faster response to service requests.
- The APP will enhance engagement with decision-making processes of the Municipality including approvals and inputs on municipal budgets;