Half a million Capetonians benefit from City’s free SmartCape programmes
28 February 2024
The City of Cape Town’s Mayoral Committee Member for Corporate Services and the SmartCape project team visited the Harare Library in Khayelitsha. The purpose of the visit was to film a Digital Dialogue video segment as well as see first-hand how the SmartCape Digital Inclusion Training is conducted. The training commenced at the library yesterday, 27 February 2024 and will be concluded on Thursday, 29 February 2024.
The City’s SmartCape Digital Inclusion Training programme that was conducted in Khayelitsha yesterday is part of a programme that takes a maximum of 10 candidates at a time and covers typing a CV, cover letter, spreadsheets, the Internet and Cyber Security. Candidates include community members of different ages and different backgrounds.
The average age of yesterday’s participants ranged from 18 to 55 years of age. The main reasons cited for attendance was a desire to learn how to apply for jobs, to run their business administration and to build the confidence to assist their children with homework that requires computer literacy.
‘I am quite excited to have met this keen group of community members who participated in the training. The first day was about basic computer skills such as opening and closing LibreOffice Writer, navigating Ribbon software, formatting and so forth. On the second day, the group goes on to practise these skills to write up their CVs and create budget spreadsheets. The third day of the training goes into the Internet-of-things and Cyber Security. So it is a very rounded introductory programme,’ said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Corporate Services, Alderman Theresa Uys.
The SmartCape program was initiated in July 2002, with five computers being installed in six public libraries across the City on a pilot basis. By the end of 2002, there were 3 000 registered SmartCape users.
To date, SmartCape has over 500 000 registered users who can get 45-minutes free internet use per session per day, across 670 computers in 104 libraries. A number of people can now apply for jobs online and run their businesses online on their own.
‘Most people find it quite intimidating to try something out for the first time, and this can often put people off from using computers. SmartCape is where many residents are exposed to the internet on a desktop for the first time. Over the years, the City has learnt that it is simply not enough to provide residents with the necessary equipment, without guiding them through the process of how to optimally utilise technology to their benefit,’ concluded Alderman Theresa Uys.
Residents that are interested in signing up for the Digital Inclusion Training or making use of any of the SmartCape services can visit their nearest City of Cape Town library and sign up.
Beyond the Digital Inclusion Training, the City soon plans to introduce:
• Coding and Robotics Programme
• Social Media Careers
• SmartCape Cadettes
• LAN Gaming Events
• Public WiFI
• SmartCape Digital Kiosk
• and Councillor Reading Rooms
High-resolution photographs from the Khayelitsha visit are available
here.
Published by:
City of Cape Town, Media Office
