In the past week or so we have received several messages from readers about emails bouncing from the municipality’s servers.
In the past week or so we have received several messages from readers about emails bouncing from the municipality’s servers.
Our reporters have also had their messages returned to them – so we were not surprised when residents complained to Grocott’s Mail about this problem.
When people are angry with the municipality they often vent their frustrations on us. Makana Municipality has had serious problems with its email system, and its website is only rarely updated.
It would seem that municipal officials have not been taking full advantage of technology that has become absolutely essential in the 21st century.
We are not sure if this is simply an oversight, or if there some kind of aversion to progress.
It somehow appears that municipal officials are reluctant to use many of the new technologies that are available to help keep our people informed.
The councillors were, however, all keen on a proposal for them to receive laptop computers. Based on the way the councillors use their substantial cellphone allowances for mysterious purposes, the laptop computers will also probably be employed for equally enigmatic ends.
We doubt they will be used to communicate regularly with their constituencies, informing us of how they have been working hard in our interests, and we would be extremely surprised if all the computing power were to be used to put essential and current information on the website.
We are fortunate to have at Rhodes University an advanced and progressive computer science department that would probably be willing to help Makana set up a citywide internet network.
Such a network could provide not only connectivity for residents, but also for schools in town and the less developed suburbs of our town.
If all pupils in the Makana area had reasonable access to the internet they would stand a better chance of doing well in their studies and would ultimately open up better employment prospects for them.
It could also transform Grahamstown into an information technology hub, where people come to learn about computers and how to use them.
Many more people in our town could become computer literate and so much more employable. Who knows – we might even be able to pay our bills online.
