Thousands use app to report service deliver problems
ALEXANDRA - The Johannesburg Roads Agency’s Find & Fix mobile app launched last year for residents to report service delivery breakdowns like potholes, faulty traffic signals, storm water drains problems and missing manhole covers has won several commendation including the Microsoft Application Development of the Year Award.
The app allows the public to report service delivery issues such as potholes, faulty traffic signals and missing manhole covers.
Dubbed the ‘snap it, send it and we’ll fix it’ app, the innovation also won the Public Sector Industry Award and Prominent Managing Director’s Award. Since its launch, 13 000 residents are said to have used it to log about 5 000 service delivery issues monthly.
Johannesburg Roads Agency managing director, Skhumbuzo Macozoma described the innovation as a demonstration of the city council’s commitment to delivering an efficient and effective service to the public, adding that it also reflected the agency’s seriousness in attending to road infrastructure breakdowns.
“At best they [road infrastructure problems] are an irritation and at worst they damage vehicles and pose a serious danger to motorists, cyclists, pedestrians and passengers,” said Macozoma. “Since the app’s launch, Joburg residents have come on board with great enthusiasm, resulting in improved positive responsiveness to service delivery issues.”
MMC for Transport councillor Christine Walters lauded the app. “It has assisted to ensure Joburg, Africa’s largest economic hub, benefits from improved road infrastructure because of faster call logging and improved turnaround times which translate into economic benefits,” she said.
The app can be downloaded for free on most smart phones. It can link to a GPS to provide accurate location of the problem and users are also able to submit photographic evidence of infrastructure problems. Macozoma said the app helped reduce the average time to resolve a service request from 32.4 days to less than a day.
Details: Bertha Peters-Scheepers of Johannesburg Roads Agency, 011 298 5023/079 510 4186, bscheepers@jra.org.za
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