Over the next coming months, starting from 20 November, the City of Johannesburg will roll out free and subsidised Wi-Fi with 47 new Wi-Fi sites going live.
The MMC for Finance, Dr Rabelani Dagada, who is also responsible for overseeing the City’s Information Technology Department and Strategy, said turning Joburg into a smart city is important for economic development, and making access to the internet easier for residents.
“All these efforts will ensure that residents of the City have access to the internet and can participate in the local economy,” Dagada said.
Ennerdale, Eldorado Park, Ivory Park, Cosmo City and Zandspruit will be covered by this rollout. The MMC said work started on 31 October to add 33 more Wi-Fi sites to cover Lenasia, Slovoville, Diepsloot and Orange Farm.
The City wants to roll out 300 Wi-Fi sites in the current financial year, or, before July next year.
The MMC also said the City can no longer continue with its current customer engagement process, which has become ‘far too cumbersome and time-consuming’. He added that there is a great need for the use of new technology to make services efficient and effective.
Dagada said the improvement of Joburg’s online platform, e-Services remains high on his agenda.
“Our customers are at the centre of everything we do and becoming customer-centric requires the City to match and meet the expectation of our tech-savvy residents who transact on the move.”
Dagada said the successful re-implementation of SAP (Systems, Applications and Products), the system the City works on, requires clean data and a strong link to the City’s institutional overhaul already underway.
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