The Executive Mayor of Tshwane, Councillor Kgosientso Ramokgopa unveiled the first phase of the Namola App, an innovative crime fighting solution that assists Tshwane Metro Police officers to respond faster to crime scenes.
The App is a software solution designed for the Tshwane Metro Police Department that; (i) creates a complimentary communication link between officers on the ground and the control room, (ii) promotes police accountability and performance and (iii) gives citizens a direct link to their nearest police officers.
The introduction of this revolutionary App means that “average dispatch times are reduced from 2min 38sec to 11sec, a 13 times improvement” said Mayor Ramokgopa. Tablets installed into TMPD patrol vehicles create a parallel communication channel between the control room and the officers on the ground. This link enables the control room to send broadcast messages such as photos and written descriptions of stolen vehicles and persons of interest to all or selected vehicles.
“The exploitation of this new knowledge would not be possible without the involvement of the private sector. The Namola App is another ground breaking product we have introduced with the help of Project Isizwe to report and attend to crime scenes at the touch of a button. The added benefit of this wonderful tool is that it accommodates the voiceless and less literate groups to use their power to report incidents without difficulty. Indeed the partnership with Project Isizwe has enabled the City to ignite wonderful things for its populace” said Ramokgopa
Project Isizwe CEO, Alan Craig-Knott said the commitment of the political leaders made this milestone possible. “With their support, the next logical extension is to roll out the massively powerful tool to all emergency services”
The launch also marked the City’s ground-breaking free Wi-Fi Project which hit a major milestone of one million unique connections on 28 October 2015. The Tshwane Free Wi-Fi service is the largest government funded public Free Wi-Fi in South Africa and has enabled over one million unique users to get online since it launched in November 2013, logging over 40.4 million connections to date. “We are drawing a demographic dividend from our youth who are now able to engage in rich deep conversations with the City and provide meaningful feedback at the touch of a button” added Mayor Ramokgopa.
