Cape Gateway is a government service aimed primarily at citizens of the Western Cape, providing information on local, provincial and national government. An initiative of the Provincial Government of the Western Cape (PGWC), in partnership with national and local governments, it gives easy access to government information and services.
In 2006/ 2007, InfoWizz had a researcher deployed to this unit to research and write content for this portal.
Up to now, to get information and services, citizens have had to know which government body provides them. With Cape Gateway, information is presented from a user's perspective.
There are three ways to access the information Cape Gateway offers:
- the website - www.capegateway.gov.za (you're surfing it right now)
- the contact centre - 0860 142 142 (weekdays 8:00 - 16:00; cost of a local telephone call from anywhere in South Africa)
- the walk-in centre - 142 Long Street, Cape Town (weekdays 8:00 - 16:00; speak with someone face-to-face)
These three channels aim to make the Cape Gateway service accessible to the widest possible audience. This is also addressed by providing access to the information in English, Afrikaans and Xhosa (the official languages of the Western Cape).
BACKGROUND
One of the aims of the South African Constitution is to establish an open democracy, characterised by transparency and accountability. Rights to access information are included as basic human rights.
The Constitution places an obligation on organs of state to disseminate information held by the state as widely as possible: "Transparency must be fostered by providing the public with timely, accessible and accurate information." Section 195(g)
Batho Pele (People First) is the South African government's initiative to improve the delivery of public services. Improving service delivery is one of the government's eight priorities as set out in the White Paper on the Transformation of the Public Service (pdf, html)
The PGWC's White Paper Preparing the Western Cape for the Knowledge Economy of the 21st Century also sets out the need for easy access to government information and services by citizens and business, as well as the need to harness the economic development potential of an information society for a developing nation.
Cape Gateway is a concrete response to these principles and policies.
 See www.capegateway.gov.za.
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