- The Gauteng Department of eGovernment has detailed ongoing plans to build a digitalised “smart city region” in Gauteng.
- It says these plans will make life easier for all residents.
- Outside of the digital world, Gauteng’s public services and infrastructure continue to crumble.
The Gauteng Department of eGovernment, which oversees the province’s ICT infrastructure and is charged with the digital transformation of its public works has detailed plans to build a “smart Gauteng City region,” with development beginning in the 2025/2026 financial year.
Unlike the traditional idea of a smart city, a specific location where technology and digital infrastructure are more pervasive, such as the upcoming Neom glass city in Saudi Arabia, the department says it will make the province smarter through widespread digital innovation.
More than an actual location, the announcement from the department describes a ramping up of strategies to increase digital transformation across Gauteng and forms part of its government’s new five-year strategic plan that will take it into 2030.
“We are entering a critical implementation phase that will define the digital landscape of Gauteng for years to come,” says Koena Mwale, director for Monitoring and Evaluation.
“This is not just about digitising processes but using technology to improve lives, especially in previously disadvantaged communities.”
Implementation will take place across the province, starting with upgrading digital platforms, expanding e-services, improving user experiences for these services, and rolling out more public WiFi hotspots in townships and underserved areas.
It also includes digitalisation of public safety, like the deployment of CCTV cameras and bringing access to the Gauteng ePanic button app to more areas across the province.
Finally, the province is also focusing on ICT skills development and training. “By equipping people with the right tools and training, we’re helping them succeed in a fast-changing, technology-driven world,” Mwale explains.
The Smart City won’t save Gauteng
While the department details “plans” for the future, all of the above initiatives are already being rolled out. In March, it was announced that over 50 000 residents of the province had used the Gauteng ePanic button app, there are now several thousand CCTV cameras installed across the province, including in townships, monitored by the province’s command centre, while 30 new WiFi hotspots were rolled out across these areas in December last year.
Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi said in his State of the Province address this year that “intelligent systems” and improved ICT infrastructure will be the golden ticket for the betterment of Gauteng, the most economically active province in South Africa and the richest metropolitan region in the continent.
But, despite these shining assertions from the government, Gauteng’s metros continue to deteriorate, falling to urban decay because of rampant mismanagement of the same government that lauds these technological improvements.
As the department says that it will make access to services easier digitally, in the non-digital world, these services are collapsing and quickly.
In Johannesburg, the seat of the provincial government, residents are forced to deal with widespread power and water outages, ruined roads, streetlights, robots and public infrastructure in general and the costs of living in the province seems to continue to grow.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Luis Monzon
Quelle/Source: hypertext, 08.05.2025
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