Kouga Local Municipality hosts Eastern Cape ICT Summit

KOUGA - Kouga Local Municipality demonstrated its commitment to digital transformation and smarter governance systems to make it more efficient, accountable and improve service delivery to residents at the Eastern Cape Municipal ICT Summit held in Jeffreys Bay from 7 to 8 May 2026.

Hosted at Mentors Country Estate, municipal leaders, ICT professionals and governance experts gathered to explore how technology can strengthen local government and improve service delivery.

The summit was hosted under the theme of building “connected, intelligent, secure and citizen-centric” municipalities and was attended by officials from municipalities around the province, the Eastern Cape Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA), the State Information Technology Agency (SITA), Provincial Treasury and ICT industry partners.

Welcoming the delegates to the summit, Kouga Local Municipality Deputy Municipal Manager, Dawie de Jager, noted that collaboration and innovation are vital in helping municipalities adapt to increasing service delivery demands and ever-changing technology.

Eastern Cape COGTA Head of Department Dr Vuyo Mlokothi delivered the keynote address, focusing on the Local Government Professionalisation Framework and the importance of strengthening governance systems and institutional capacity within municipalities.

A key theme of the summit was the role of ICT in improving governance, financial management and operational efficiency within local government. Discussions focused on cyber security resilience, integrated municipal systems, ICT governance structures and alignment with the Municipal Standard Chart of Accounts (mSCOA). Delegates also emphasised the need to protect municipal systems from cyber threats, fraud and corruption.

The summit showcased Kouga Local Municipality’s web-based Collaborator system, which supports electronic records management, correspondence tracking, workflow management, council agenda automation and policy management, as an example of its ongoing investment in digital systems and electronic governance solutions.

This resulted in Kouga being chosen to be used as a benchmark for its electronic document management system.

The municipality also demonstrated its use of artificial intelligence in the system to improve administrative efficiency and records management processes.

The summit highlighted the challenges municipalities face such as limited funding for modernising ICT, fragmented systems, the vulnerabilities of cybersecurity and digital skills shortages. Delegates agreed that strong ICT governance, integrated digital systems and sustainable investment are crucial for building efficient and citizen-focused municipalities.

Industry experts and governance organisations, including ISACA South Africa, Orion Cyber and Konecta, shared insights on digital transformation, smart city development, ICT governance and risk management.

Day two of the summit focused on systems integration and compliance issues, including records management systems, free basic services administration, municipal human resources planning and e-recruitment systems.

The summit wrapped up with a programme of action to strengthen ICT governance, improve institutional coordination and speed up digital innovation in all the Eastern Cape municipalities.

Kouga Local Municipality reiterated its commitment to using technology to build smarter and more responsive local government.