GEORGE NEWS - A resident of Ward 16, Daniël Bezuidenhoudt, has developed an online platform, Ward Data, in the hope that it could strengthen the voice of the community in the long run regarding concerns over service delivery and infrastructure problems.
Bezuidenhout says the system is designed to capture and analyse information collected from residents regarding any complaints over water, electricity, roads, refuse removal, sewerage and stormwater, street lighting, housing and public spaces.
No collection of data has started yet. “It will launch in Ward 16 with a view to possibly expand to other wards,” says Bezuidenhout, founder and owner of Pacaltsdorp Digital Solutions (PDS), under whose name the initiative is being funded and developed. He is a candidate for the upcoming election, but gives the assurance that the system is independent of his candidacy.
Data would be collected from house to house by unemployed matriculants appointed as fieldworkers. They would be equipped with tablets and mobile data and trained to record information the residents provide.
“I want us to capture the problem, document where it is, understand what residents are experiencing in real life and create a record that can be followed up,” says Bezuidenhoudt.
Problems can be reported anonymously, and where personal information is necessary for follow-up, residents will be informed why it is required and how their information will be used.
“No final funding model has been established for the remuneration of fieldworkers, equipment, mobile data, training and other costs. The platform and current technical infrastructure are not dependent on funding from George Municipality, and there is currently no formal partnership between Ward Data and the municipality,” says Bezuidenhout.
He says any reported problem would still have to be submitted through the municipality’s official service delivery and complaints channels.
George Municipality confirmed this, and said the information collected independently by third parties is not automatically captured in the municipality’s official reporting systems. Any sharing or integration of information with municipal systems would also need to be formally submitted and assessed in accordance with applicable legislation and policies, as well as data protection and information security requirements.
The municipality said it cannot comment on the platform’s suitability or potential expansion to other wards before such an assessment has taken place.
It encouraged residents to report service delivery concerns through its official channels to ensure that matters are formally logged and referred to the relevant departments.
Visit the Ward Data web site here.
Daniël Bezuidenhout
‘We bring you the latest Garden Route, Hessequa, Karoo news’
