The South African Local Government Association (SALGA) and the Association of Flemish Cities and Municipalities (VVSG) Waste Management App Launch

Posted: 16 February 2022

The International Programmes and Partnerships Cluster at the South African Local Government Association (SALGA) is taking an innovative approach toward solving a common municipal problem of involving local communities as partners in waste management. 

The unit's Waste Management Mobile Application, developed in partnership with Vodacom as part of the SALGA and the Association of Flemish Cities and Municipalities (VVSG) City-to-City Cooperation partnerships with Flemish municipalities (Witzenberg with Essen, Nquthu with Bornem and Bergrivier with Heist-op-den-Berg).

The app can be used by municipalities to manage waste and monitor illegal dumping. The app also allows for bi-directional engagement between and the communities they serve, where citizens can report waste management related issues and municipalities can promote environment education in waste management. 

"One of the most critical components of the app is that citizens are able to report illegal dumping and contact waste management officials at municipalities and waste management facilities," said Vodacom's Siviwe Mdudo in a 10 December 2021 hybrid project close-out event that explored the experiences and lessons learned from the City-to-City Partnerships and Cooperation's project between the VVSG and SALGA. 

Key aspects of the app's functions include:

• Directory- Provides information for officials dealing with waste management at each municipality.
• Facilities- Provides a list of waste management facilities at each municipality.
• Report issues- Allows users to report waste management related issues on the app and take pictures. 
• Around me- Provides a view of all issues reported and service points based on the location of the user.
• Inbox- Inbox allows the municipalities to share information with the citizens to educate and inform them of any waste management related information.
• Web-based management portal and case management.
• Support PDF, audio video and text.
• Allows municipal officials to view, respond and track the reported issue by citizens.
• Provides dashboard reports for senior management.

What is the City-to-City Cooperation partnerships with Flemish municipalities about?

Through the City-to-City Cooperation partnerships with Flemish municipalities, integrated waste management policies will be developed in the identified municipalities to contribute to good local governance. 

The second component of the partnership consists of strengthening the national association of local governments (SALGA) in its digital capacities and competencies. Using a pilot group of municipalities (including the three before mentioned) to experiment with digital tools, applications and platforms will contribute equally to good and smart governance.

The waste management project in the three (and other) municipalities will provide for an excellent opportunity to experiment with. To be able to do so, SALGA's internal capacities for digitalization and digital service delivery towards its members need to be strengthened.

Finally, SALGA will distribute and scale up the good practices and lessons learned from this process in the three municipalities.