Yowzit, a platform that makes it possible for citizens to rate service providers, has redesigned its mobile app, which now enables users to rate public sector service providers.
The app was sponsored by Making All Voices Count, a consortium of funders making grants available to support innovation and technology.
Keke Molebatsi, Yowzit project manager, says the app has been improved significantly. It covers the private and public sectors, and allows users to rate, search for nearby services, browse ratings and reviews, share experiences, look up addresses and phone numbers, and place calls or map numbers from a mobile phone.
Yowzit was launched in 2010 as an Internet platform that aggregates crowd-sourced reviews of private sector businesses. Two years later, it launched a mobile app, and in 2014, introduced Yowzit for Government on the online platform, but not to its mobile app.
Molebatsi says since the launch, Yowzit has attracted a community of 17 000 reviewers, over 40 000 user reviews, over 90 000 public and business entities, 118 000 monthly visitors, and 175 000 monthly page views. It also covers six countries: SA, India, Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya and Mauritius.
In 2014, Making All Voices Count recognised Yowzit as one of 28 initiatives having potential to "make a difference in the developing world by amplifying the voice of citizens".
The new app has been launched as part of a project called Connect-Tech, which supports better governance through technology.
Yowzit says its challenges included getting government officials to respond to citizen feedback on the platform. "Although meeting with several high-level government officials, this did not result in greater responsiveness from frontline staff at branches of the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Post Office."
The company says it intends to partner with local civil society organisations to act as intermediaries to encourage disenfranchised groups to raise their concerns about public services offline and online.
The apps can be downloaded via the Apple iStore or the Google Play Store.
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