The Free State Provincial Government has noted recent media reports regarding Free State Online.
We welcome and appreciate the constructive criticism and comments regarding the functionality of the site.
We view them as contributions that should assist us in strengthening the province’s online presence as we seek to find sustainable means of staying in touch with the citizens of our province.
We will use the contributions to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the site to ensure that the citizens of the province have easy access to information about their government.
We are already attending to some of the issues raised such as the unavailability of the site at times due to heavy traffic.
We are engaging the service providers to ensure that these shortcomings are attended to. Communication and accountability are critical cornerstones of a thriving democracy.
We believe that the province’s presence online will assist citizens to become active participants in governance.
We wish to further reiterate that all processes, as prescribed by the Public Finance Management Act, were duly followed in procuring the services of the appointed service providers.
We remain adamant that the citizens of the province will derive benefits from the project. We reiterate that this project is a first of its own kind as it will integrate the 38 websites of the broader provincial and local government sector.
