IT to get practical in Gauteng

By Leon Engelbrecht, ITWeb senior writer

Johannesburg, 19 Feb 2008

Gauteng premier Mbhazima Shilowa promises to deploy IT this year, to address a range of ills in the province and realise his vision of Gauteng as a "global city region".

Speaking at the opening of the 2008 session of the Gauteng Legislature yesterday, Shilowa said his priorities for the year included "the strengthening of Gauteng's integrated transport system".

"We will, by July this year, ensure the Gauteng Transport Management Authority (GTMA) is up and running. The GTMA will establish operating standards for all public transport operators and take further our vision of a single ticketing system for all modes of public transport across Gauteng," he promised.

"This initiative will be piloted in 2009 and will include all subsidised public transport services, the municipal bus operators such as Metrobus and Pretoria City Transport, the proposed new [Rea Vaya] Bus Rapid Transit Systems for Johannesburg and Tshwane, Gautrain and its bus feeder systems and the Wits and Tshwane Metrorail services.

"It is essential that we get this system right. It should make public transport more accessible, convenient and affordable and reduce travelling times, as well as provide spin-offs that will lead to further investment in public transport."

Better policing

Shilowa commended Primedia and the SABC for working together to promote their SMS anti-crime line. "This initiative has bolstered the [province's] Take Charge Campaign by offering citizens an opportunity to provide information to the police without having to identify themselves," he said.

Turning to the requirement to police the police, the premier said vehicle location systems had been installed in more than 1 800 vehicles in the Johannesburg policing area. This, he said, would enable the Midrand-based R600 million 10111 call centre, opened by president Thabo Mbeki late last year, "to track the movement of vehicles and monitor response times to reported incidents of crime. All 6 200 vehicles in the province will be fitted with tracking devices before the end of this financial year."

Shilowa also said the province had improved its ability to hold police management to account in terms of the Gauteng Safety Strategy "through the implementation of the Gauteng Information on Police Performance System. This enables the monitoring of crime trends and police performance using up to date information. The system also allows for an assessment of the performance of police stations in relation to priority contact crimes.

"It also monitors the number of cases that detectives take to court. Poorly performing police stations are identified and station commissioners provide plans on how they intend improving policing in their areas," Shilowa explained. "They are given six months to show the results. We will continue with this programme as we seek to support the SA Police Service in identifying policing priorities and in improving the performance of every police officer in our province."

Calling Gauteng

Shilowa further told members of the provincial legislature that the public utilisation of the Gauteng call centre had continued to grow, with more than 450 000 calls every month. "The centre now has over 500 seats with over 1 000 employees. Further expansion is planned with the establishment of 150 seat centres in Mogale City and Tshwane.

"Among the services available to the public on the 0860-Gauteng number are the booking of metered taxis, public transport information, accessing Bana Pele services, information on SMME support, the housing hotline on the housing waiting list, the police complaints line and job applications by SMS."

Shilowa again addressed concerns regarding the booking of driver licence tests in the province. "Last year, the call centre continued to experience challenges relating to the booking of driver licences," he conceded. "This is both due to the lack of capacity to deal with increased demand, as well as a lack of cooperation and corruption by certain staff at some of the driver licence testing centres and the call centre.

"I have been told that some of the people working at testing centres are trying to undermine the centralised booking system so that they can get bribes from people wanting to get bookings. Together with the police, we have taken great strides in clamping down on fraud and corruption, and will continue to do so as we improve the efficiency of the centralised booking system.

"We will not tolerate corrupt or lazy people in the testing centres or anywhere in the public service."

The premier also announced the number of Thusong Service Centres (formerly called Multi-Purpose Community Centres) would be boosted to 40 this year. The centres feature a variety of IT-based services, including an Internet caf'e and have, in Shilowa's words, improved "access to government services, especially in poor areas".

"The basket of services delivered at the Thusong Service Centres has been further enhanced by the roll-out of connectivity and access to the GPG portal," he adds.

Coping with FIFA and disaster

Shilowa also announced the province's ability to respond to natural disasters would be further enhanced with the acquisition of a mobile incident command post. "In the coming financial year, we will invest in a mobile centre that will ensure on-site coordination of disaster relief," he said.

The mobile post would augment the R50 million consolidated disaster management and emergency monitoring centre Shilowa opened in November.

The premier noted the centre has improved the capacity of the "province to respond to major disasters such as chemical spillages, road accidents, and stadium disasters".

It "also bolstered our preparations to ensure the safety of our communities and visitors during the FIFA World Cup in 2010".