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.
Read more: ZA: Government accelerates programme to connect citizens to internet
Human Settlements Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi said the Greater Lanseria master plan has been developed by a multidisciplinary team as the first phase of the smart city President Cyril Ramaphosa envisioned five years ago.
Kubayi said significant investment was still required for bulk infrastructure in the area.
She also said the City of Joburg has invested about R29 million of the Urban Settlements Development Grant towards the Lanseria wastewater treatment works and the Lanseria sewer outfall.
Read more: ZA: Master plan developed for the Lanseria smart city – Kubayi
The arts town of Clarens in the Eastern Free State has become the first town in the country where residents are now equipped to manage their own load shedding through a process known as load curtailment.
As Clarens was already gearing up for smart city initiatives with smart metering and electrical vehicle charging stations already installed, as well as a well-diverse spread of small-scale embedded generators (SSEGs), Eskom says it was eager to help its residents in the evolution from an art town to a smart town.
Clarens, a picturesque arts town nestled in the Free State, has been classified as South Africa's inaugural "smart town”, which will support its existing smart-city initiatives such as the installation of smart meters, electric vehicle charging stations, and a variety of small-scale embedded generators (SSEGs).
The key to Clarens achieving this milestone: a stable supply of electricity, one that is being made possible through a pilot load-management project in partnership with Eskom, and backed by a mobile application released by Augos.
Public safety is another key capability of smart city technology that can have an immense impact on a business, with connected devices creating more secure workplaces.
The concept of smart cities has become more prevalent over the last decade as more cities around the world adopt the Internet of Things (IoT) to increase operational efficiency, share information and improve both infrastructure and the safety and quality of life of citizens.