First phase of KZN’s Nerve Centre completed

Johannesburg, South Africa  (27 Aug. 2008)  –  Published by The Witness

Premier S’bu Ndebele’s dream of an “automated and integrated” government information management system was realised yesterday with the official opening of the provincial Nerve Centre.

The centre, according to Ndebele, will help in monitoring and evaluating different tiers of government in KwaZulu-Natal.

“To win the fight against poverty you first have to eradicate the absence of knowledge so that you can plan better. In order for government to effectively deliver on their constitutional mandates, the availability of quality information and the supporting of technological infrastructure to facilitate the provision of this information are vital,” he said.

Once completed, the centre, housed at the premier’s office, will at the touch of a button allow for easy access to information such as the performance of different government departments and municipalities.

This data will be updated regularly and sourced from various departments and from other existing data systems such as the PERSAL systems and from Statistics SA.

Ndebele said the system will also allow the premier’s office and the provincial government to effectively exercise their oversight role over different government departments and municipalities.

“We will be able to know things like how many of the 2,7 million pupils are at schools at any given time and how safe our roads are at any particular time,” Ndebele said.

Desan Naidoo of SAS said the system also allows for analysis of such data and for the production of forecasts enabling government to plan better.

KZN’s director-general, Kwazi Mbanjwa, said the centre is expected to be completed by 2012, with the first phase completed now.

A mobile Nerve Centre was also unveiled. It will be taken to government’s izimbizo and initiatives such as Taking Legislature to The People.

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