IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

The rollout of 5G networks in South Africa marks a transformative milestone in the evolution of connectivity.

With the promise of faster speeds, ultra-low latency, and unprecedented device density, 5G opens up remarkable opportunities for the country’s growing urbanisation and industrial aspirations.

It paves the way for a future where Internet of Things (IoT) applications and autonomous systems can thrive, to bring about a wave of innovation and progress.

A local municipality in Limpopo has announced a R7-billion smart city project to develop the Lebowakgomo Business Area, a small town 50km south of Polowane in South Africa’s northernmost province.

Meriam Molala, the mayor of the Lepelle-Nkumpi Local Municipality, said key budget requirements include R35 million for ICT broadband and R100 million for strategic road expansions.

The road expansions include upgrades along the Orrie Baragwanath Panorama Route. This main road passes in front of the tract of land occupied by the Limpopo provincial legislature, where the city is to be built.

Acumen Software's My Smart City platform hopes to help South Africans resolve service delivery issues quickly and efficiently, CEO Joao Zoio tells TechCentral's TC|Daily. Joao Zoio is a man on a mission. As CEO of Acumen Software, he is overseeing the development of My Smart City, a platform that integrates with municipalities to try to resolve service delivery issues quickly and efficiently.

The platform, available on the Web or via smartphone apps, allows residents to log issues that need attention, from potholes to broken streetlights.

Taiwan assists Mbabane with smart transportation and urban management upgrades

A delegation from Eswatini visited Kaohsiung on Tuesday as part of a project to upgrade smart transportation in the capital Mbabane.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kaohsiung’s Transportation Bureau, and International Integrated Systems, Inc. are planning to install 50 cameras at 35 intersections in Mbabane, pe CNA. The systems will use a 5G network to analyze and monitor traffic conditions.

Speaking separately at Kambangwa Secondary School, Dar es Salaam, the teachers said they believe the system will act as a catalyst towards better academic performance as well as offload teachers' heaving burden of teaching.

Kambangwa Secondary School is the first institution in Tanzania to be connected with the NICTBB initiative which is powered by Vodacom Tanzania network. "We believe that this system will change the current teaching situation tremendously.

Creative new investment solutions are required to fund ICT infrastructure that can accelerate the roll-out of fast, unlimited Internet and provide low-income households with access to quality and affordable data that can bridge the digital divide.

Infrastructure capital is critical to reducing inequality and poverty and to facilitate the development of the smart cities that President Cyril Ramaphosa announced recently.

On New Year’s Eve in 2016, a fire engulfed part of the Address Downtown hotel in Dubai, close to where revellers had gathered to watch a spectacular fireworks display. The incident was picked up by Pacific Controls, a data centre for buildings and infrastructure projects that had tied with the Dubai Civil Defence for real-time monitoring of buildings in the United Arab Emirates for any emergency alarms. In peak traffic, the blaze was put out in a couple of hours, and no fatalities were recorded.

The Pacific Controls company can monitor any alarm, from those for fires to those in elevators. A message is immediately sent to a command centre and a team is deployed. The system taps into the network of telecommunications company Etisalat, which provides a real-time tracker of any crises. Their track record is impressive. This is part of Dubai’s drive towards a smart city, which has seen the city push for real-time data for services across different departments. Data is stored on a cloud service, which is either a physical or virtual server. This is then controlled by a cloud-computing provider, such as Pacific Controls.

By 2050, two-thirds of the world’s people will live in cities. South Africa is already feeling that pull as more people move to metros in search of work and opportunity.

Many of our cities are struggling to keep pace. Ageing utilities, unreliable services and congested roads are making daily life harder and slowing growth.

Smart surveillance and AI can give impetus to SA’s digital transformation process, and although budgets are constrained, there is a clear opportunity for government to leverage the technology to support its ICT and telecommunications objectives.

This is according to Rudie Opperman, manager for engineering and training, MEA at network solutions provider Axis Communications.

In March 2020 SA faced an unprecedented challenge as a result of the global Covid-19 pandemic. With the imposition of a nationwide lockdown, almost every human endeavour switched from being physical to virtual. For many the conversion was effortless. For others, however, the switch to a predominantly digital world only served to further deepen prevailing divides.

As a corporate social investment (CSI) practitioner with a keen interest in facilitating the active economic participation of people through education, I am constantly struck by the frustratingly slow pace of meaningful change in many South Africans’ lives. Notwithstanding the grave socioeconomic implications of certain Covid-19 decisions, the pandemic provides an opportunity for meaningful engagement around innovative options to bring about much-needed, broader societal transformation.

Introduction

The ability to electronically perform transactions between individuals, and individuals and public bodies, has transformed the way business is conducted and the manner in which services are rendered to members of the public. In recent years, laws have been developed to provide a framework in which such transactions can take place as legitimate and lawful alternatives to transacting in the “normal” course. This article provides a brief overview of electronic transactions and communications with public bodies and a consideration by individuals when engaging these e-services in South Africa.

Gauteng government funds half of e-toll shortfalls.

Provincial government is to contribute a total of R123 million towards the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project (GFIP), of which the contentious e-tolling system is used to pay for.

In presenting her Medium Term Budget Policy Statement, Finance and e-government MEC Barbara Creecy said this would fund at least half of the shortfalls on the project, which had occurred through its reduced tariff rates for motorists.

Gauteng will spend R123m in 2015 to subsidise an e-toll fees gap which occurred as a result of the reduced user charge dispensation, it announced on Tuesday.

Finance and e-government MEC Barbara Creecy announced this during her mini budget speech for Gauteng.

The total provincial budget increased by R2,1bn from R95,4bn appropriated in March to R97,5bn during the adjustment budget process.

Government intends to connect 1.5 million households in rural and township areas by the end of the year to the internet, enabled by Wi-Fi hotspots.

Addressing a media briefing in Pretoria, the Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies, Mondli Gungubele, said government plans to connect 5.5 million households in rural and township areas to Wi-Fi hotspots in the next three to four years.

Deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa has unveiled a broadband infrastructure project to promote Internet access and facilitate delivery of government services digitally to residents in the Eastern Cape.

The OR Tambo broadband project was launched in the Eastern Cape's Mhlontlo and King Sabata Dalindyebo municipalities on Friday.

Plans are afoot to have all 4m citizens of Johannesburg connected to free Wi-Fi within five years.

Plans are afoot to have all 4m citizens of Johannesburg connected to free Wi-Fi within five years.

Zolani Matabese, head of broadband for the City of Johannesburg, said a thousand hotspots for access to the Internet would be installed around the municipality by year-end.

In Abu Dhabi, eThekwini's delegation also met with high-ranking officials and innovation leaders in the mobility and digital governance sectors.

In a dynamic push to position Durban as a leading African hub for smart infrastructure, mobility innovation, and sustainable urban development, the eThekwini Municipality has launched a high-level international mission to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). This strategic diplomatic and business initiative, spanning 16 to 19 June 2025, is led by eThekwini City Manager Musa Mbhele, and marks a pivotal step in expanding global partnerships aligned with the city’s future-forward development goals.

‘We will work with the e-government department to further refine and improve the online application system.’

The Gauteng department of education will continue to use the online application system for 2018 admissions.

This is depite the demands of several parents that the old system be reinstated after thousands of pupils were still not placed on the first day of the new academic year.

Tshimologong, the recently launched Digital Innovation Hub in Johannesburg's inner city, has received millions in contributions from reputed multinationals and South African ICT companies.

Ten strategic founding partners have ploughed upwards of five million rands each into the newly built precinct which plans to incubate high-tech startups, commercialise research and develop high-level skills among students, working professionals and unemployed youth.