City Manages Personal Information in Compliance with Legislation
The Protection of Personal Information (PoPI) Act requires all South African institutions, including municipalities, to conduct themselves in a responsible manner when collecting, processing, storing and sharing a personal information by holding them accountable should they abuse or compromise personal information in any way.
This act came into existence on 1 July this year. To ensure that the City is compliant to the act in handling personal information of its ratepayers and employees, it has established a combined central database of documents with all electronic records attached and searchable. These documents will now be accessible from a central point with no need to log in to various databases.
In the past the City managed it documents and records manually.
The new system allows the City to upload, record, orderly classify, audit, manage and store all information electronically. It also allows the City to suitably search, track and dispose of information in a responsible manner. Customers can now visit any Customer Care Centre in order to receive documents they require from the City.
Residents may need to pay for some documents requested from the City.
The system offers the process of handling documents and records to:
- Reduce lost and misfiled documents;
- Provide faster search and retrieval of documents;
- Reduce the amount of physical space used to store documents or records;
- Control the quality and quantity of records; and
- Develop and administer policies and procedures.
A customer will be able to obtain documents such as tender forms, rental statements, resident’s records, house value, approval of house plan, indigent forms, fleet management, and the like.
