With just their laptops, 24 hours and a challenge to solve a real-world public service problem, five teams of City interns from across Cape Town competed in this year’s Innovation Hackathon to develop innovative digital solutions that could strengthen the City’s Jobseekers Database, improve access to opportunities and enhance the experience of residents seeking Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) work opportunities. The winners were Team Fayeeda with their Civic Portal: Job Seekers App and Web Portal.
Since the start of this challenge in 2024, the City’s Innovation Hackathon has seen several creative and pioneering ideas put into practice to resolve some of the City’s pressing customer service challenges while showcasing the skills of young coders.
The goal for this year’s challenge was to develop a digital solution that would enhance the Jobseekers Database by enabling persons with disabilities to get easier access to the system, enable jobseekers to update their details using various other platforms, enabling residents to maintain accurate and up-to-date profiles, strengthen information verification processes, improve communication with jobseekers and support fair and transparent access to employment opportunities.
As we celebrate Youth Month in June, the City saw it as fitting to task young people from various backgrounds, who are also recent graduates and interns at the City’s Information Systems and Technology (IS&T) Department, to find a solution to the needs of the unemployed youth.
The winners, Team Fayeeda, were selected for their Civic Portal: Jobseeker App and Web portal prototype, a user-friendly digital platform designed to enable residents to register, update and verify their information, receive notifications about opportunities and maintain an active profile on the City’s Jobseekers Database. The solution also explored opportunities to connect residents with a broader range of employment and skills development opportunities while improving the quality and reliability of information available to the City.
The team included Siyabulela Moshani, Mihle Siguqu, Courtney Mentor, Lwazi Vaphi, Bubele Cakucaku and Fayaad Abrahams.
Chief Digital Officer, Andre Stelzner opened the third Hackathon event and was also present for the presentations and prize giving.
The City’s Executive Director for Future Planning and Resilience, Gareth Morgan, congratulated all the teams for their hard work on exciting ideas.
‘This initiative is not just a competition, it’s a mechanism to drive our city forward. We need to engage the youth on their ideas and use their perspectives to shape the future of our city. By putting their ideas into practice already, we can gear our systems and processes to work for current and future needs and meet our residents and jobseekers where they are able to access the City’s offerings. We’re thankful for all the competitors for putting their time and effort into this task and helping us find effective solutions,’ said Morgan.
‘The Jobseekers Database is a critical tool in promoting inclusive access to economic opportunities. With more than 1,1 million registered jobseekers, it serves as the primary platform through which residents can register their skills, qualifications and employment interests and be considered for a range of opportunities, including Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) placements, learnerships, internships, skills development initiatives and other employment opportunities. Maintaining accurate and up-to-date information is essential to ensuring that opportunities are matched fairly, efficiently and transparently to eligible residents,’ said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Corporate Services, Alderman Theresa Uys.
