Service delivery application (app) My Smart City has launched a new ‘Local Insights’ feature, which aims to help users make informed decisions about investing in property in the cities of Johannesburg, Cape Town, Tshwane, Ekurhuleni and eThekwini.

The feature allows users of the app to compare the performance of different municipal wards and local municipalities in terms of service delivery, infrastructure maintenance pertaining to roads, water supply, power outages, waste management and general management.

My Smart City, a citizen-focused platform developed by Acumen Software, has been rolled out across South Africa’s major cities since its launch in 2020. The app allows residents to log, track and monitor the resolution of reported service delivery issues.

With the local insights feature now available, Acumen COO Kennedy Mogotsi says citizens have transparency into the potential future performance of cities and neighbourhoods, and determine whether their property purchases are in jeopardy of declining over time.

He believes there is no other free platform that provides this level of detail and insight to citizens making important life decisions like investing in property.

Local schools and other recreational facilities such as parks are equally important when determining property value.

With the My Smart City 'In the City' function, users can pull information on the status of local parks and other neighbourhood amenities and browse restaurants, events and local attractions in their area.

Moreover, citizens can book live events from the platform, making it efficient when supporting local entertainment and community initiatives.

My Smart City creates essential statistical information from citizen input into the platform. The more users partake, the deeper and more accurate data output will be.

A city may have 100 logged service delivery issues with an average resolution time of 21 days. Another city could have the same amount of logged issues but with a resolution time of 50 days.

“It is clear from this data that service delivery in the first city is superior to service delivery in the second. Citizens can even view maps to see exactly where service delivery issues were reported,” Acumen CEO Joao Zoio notes.

"According to the latest Auditor General report, few South African municipalities and metros are being managed at a level that is confidence-building for citizens. An important part of the solution is providing citizens with clear information and data on municipalities' performance and where the faults lie.

“We developed My Smart City to give citizens a voice and to provide transparency on where the issues are. Now the My Smart City platform assists users in making value-based decisions like property investment," Zoio states.