As South Africa’s economic hub and the single largest contributor to the gross domestic product, Gauteng must take the lead role as the country’s tech hub.
This was the sentiment of Cyril Baloyi, head of department at the Gauteng Department of e-Government, speaking at yesterday’s ICT Indaba hosted by the department.
Held under the theme “digitisation and centralisation of ICT activities within the Gauteng Provincial Government”, the indaba was attended by experts from the public and private sectors, as well as academia.
The e-government department hosted the event in an effort to create opportunities for collaboration between provincial government and private sector stakeholders, as part of the journey towards digitising the Gauteng government.
Speaking about the province’s tech position on the continent, Baloyi commented there’s no doubt “Gauteng needs to be the tech leader of society”.
“It [Gauteng] is one of the biggest economic growth industrial areas in the Southern Hemisphere,” he stated. “We cannot be number two…Cape Town must be a tourist place; that’s what it is and it must remain as such.
“We need to deal with industrialisation, transformation and modernisation. We need to deal with the township economy and revitalisation.”
Cape Town has been clear about its ambition to be the tech powerhouse of the African continent, even going as far as launching a campaign dedicated to this cause.
The Western Cape’s capital city has also been noted as a major tech start-up investment hub in the country, withplans to tap into the remote work visa economic boom.
Established in 2015, the e-government department has been designated as the driver of ICT and innovation in Gauteng. It is tasked with ensuring the Gauteng Provincial Government leads the digitisation of all citizen services.
Key among the department’s functions is the rollout and maintenance of the provincial broadband project, the Gauteng Broadband Network; the provincial e-waste strategy; as well as implementation of the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) strategy.
Under the 4IR strategy, the e-government department is working on establishing several support structures to drive the improvement of e-government services, accessibility and enhancement of budget spend, governance and skills development in the province.
These include the setting up of a data office and data collaborator, the establishment of a Gauteng city-region 4IR regulatory sandbox and policy lab, e-procurement for cost saving, and the piloting of various initiatives established though public-private sector collaborations.
Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko, Gauteng finance and e-government MEC, said since it’s been established, the department has implemented a number of initiatives to create smarter solutions and deliver digital services to the province’s citizens.
“When I arrived in 2019, the premier wanted to close the department, saying it was not working. However, we managed to turn the department around and the premier says it’s the best department in the province and the department that’s produced results.
“We are going to celebrate our achievement with a clean audit as a department, which is something that has not happened since the department has been around. We are cleaning up and trying to make sure things are done correctly.”
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