KZN student’s CityMenderSA app tracks SA’s infrastructure failures & uncovers Jozi’s hidden water losses – Keyuren Maharaj

CityMenderSA was created by KwaZuluNatal engineering student Keyuren Maharaj to help residents report and track local infrastructure problems, an idea sparked by his experience chairing a ratepayers’ association in Durban. He told BizNews that the app began as a simple tool for documenting service delivery failures but has since grown into a national platform covering 36 categories of issues across South Africa.Reports logged on the app are escalated directly to municipal councils, with updates and followups managed through features like WhatsApp integration to encourage faster responses. Maharaj stresses that user privacy is central: the platform collects no personal data beyond the WhatsApp phone number. With AI now built in, CityMenderSA can estimate realtime water loss from leaks and analyse patterns across municipalities. When Maharaj ran the algorithm on seven months of Johannesburg data, even the small sample of issues logged on the app revealed hundreds of thousands of litres of water lost. Bootstrapped from the start, CityMenderSA is already available in Afrikaans, Zulu and English, with more African languages on the way. Maharaj describes it as a “virtual butler for service delivery.” Once an issue is logged, he says, users know it’s being tracked, increasing the chances it will eventually be fixed..Sign up for your early morning brew of the BizNews Insider to keep you up to speed with the content that matters. The newsletter will land in your inbox at 5:30am weekdays. Register here.Support South Africa’s bastion of independent journalism, offering balanced insights on investments, business, and the political economy, by joining BizNews Premium. Register here.If you prefer WhatsApp for updates, sign up to the BizNews channel here..Watch here.Listen here.Edited transcript of the interview.Linda van Tilburg (00:00.194) South Africa's collapsing infrastructure—from potholes to broken streetlights and burst water pipes—is the national irritation that we all share. But a Durban mechanical engineering student decided to turn that frustration into something useful, creating CityMenderSA, a platform that lets citizens track service delivery failures and municipal responses using their phones. Keyuren Maharaj from the University of KwaZulu-Natal joins us now to explain how it's going.So I should ask where this idea came from? But it's clearly because we all have the problems that I just listed at the beginning.Keyuren Maharaj (01:16.536) Ja, so the idea for the app and the platform actually stemmed from where I do my community work and community engagement. I'm actually the chairman of the local area ratepayer’s association called the Glenwood Ratepayers Association. And I'm also on the board of the eThekwini Ratepayers and Residents Association. So that's the entire municipal organisation, the mother body as we call it.To sit in one of those meetings where you've got a whole bunch of different areas trying to tell us what's wrong—and how many reports, how many water leaks, how many streetlights are out—it's almost impossible, hey? So I said we must have some sort of system that we can track this in-house or internally. Because our municipal systems, like everywhere, it's very one-sided. Your reports go to a municipal system, get logged with them, you get a reference number and that's basically it. To try and follow up on that issue again is impossible.So, what we said is, there must be something that we can do. I went and did a lot of research, and I said the only way to do this is, unfortunately, to learn how to build it yourself, right? And it took 124 versions before we launched in July—it was just refining it. Obviously I was in the learning phase two of how to code and how to host these types of technologies. But we launched the app in July, and we've just launched the Apple app in January and we've had some incredible feedback from the residents.So, the idea simply when we started was to create a reporting tool that was going to document what was happening—so almost like an audit level that sits between the resident and the municipality. And since then it's turned into more of a tracking intelligence tool that somehow manages to track all these issues, but not only in Durban now, but across every single municipality in the country.Linda van Tilburg (03:27.956) Walk us through it. Somebody snaps a photo of a pothole. What happens then? How do they report it to you?Keyuren Maharaj (03:34.222) So we've got 36 issues. We've got eight main categories, which is your water, lights, environment and public health, road issues, streetlights, electricity. And there's two more that I—oh, infrastructure projects, as well as... there's one more, but you know, I've been doing this for a while. I can't even remember what's on the app, but there's a whole host of stuff that you can report.But how it works is, as of last month our platform actually escalates it to the municipality because we were finding a lot of people are uneducated or they just don't know how to report—which I don't blame them because the reporting mechanisms are very fragmented. So, our system is almost like a virtual butler for service delivery, so it'll escalate your issue.Let's do an example: if I'm driving and I see a puddle—obviously stop your car or if you're walking—take a picture of the pothole and within 10 seconds you can log an issue. So you take a picture, you already have your WhatsApp number saved (and I'll come back to why that's important), and you press submit. You can either use your location, or you can type your location in. It's got Google Maps in it. So, it's relatively easy on that side of stuff.And you submit it and you'll see it's very similar to Twitter—we've got a history log in the actual issue. So you'll see it's been escalated and what time it was escalated to the municipality. But what we've now got is a WhatsApp concierge service and this will actually follow up on the issue with you. So if you have an outage that you reported on the app, it will follow up with you until your electricity comes back.So that does two things: it gives us really accurate data, which again is going to be important, but it just provides some engagement for the residents so that they know that there is a platform looking out for them and that's tracking the issues.So I remember when we first started, it was more of a reporting tool, but when we call something a reporting tool, it gives the residents—it misinforms them, and they almost think that if I report it here, it's going to get fixed, right?Keyuren Maharaj (05:50.477) And that's not the case, unfortunately, in South Africa. So we've now rebranded as a tracking tool, because at the end of the day, that is what's lacking in South Africa. It's the tracking of an issue from when it was reported through all the different phases and fixes that it goes through until it's resolved.With the way the app works, it's very similar to Waze where you can go and update someone else's issue or yours. Again, the transparency aspect is quite cool. You can update your issue 20 or 30 times, right? We've got a sewer leak in Johannesburg somewhere that's going on for three months, and the resident has updated this issue about 20-something times—24 times—and with photos too sometimes. So it gives us a really, really good idea and picture of what's happening.But again, you can go and update someone else's issue. But it's such a new way of doing service delivery and going about it that residents are trying to grasp the actual aspect or the functionality of the app. Because again, it's not an app where you just report and you leave an issue. It's for that continuous engagement.But ja, that's basically how the app works. So when we first started a really cool stat: it took a minute and 15 seconds to log an issue, and now it's down to 10 seconds. So we can even go further, but at the moment that's not the main priority. But it just shows how the constant adaptation really benefits the resident.And one more thing, because it wasn't designed or developed by a software company, the really cool thing is when a resident gives me feedback on a specific issue—even a colour that they would like to change, right? We can do it and we have done it. In seven months we are now on the 35th version of the app and that's almost an update every single week, right? But that is the really awesome part of it. It's the continuous adapting, the refining—and it's built by the residents basically.Linda van Tilburg (08:04.275) So are municipalities engaging with you?Keyuren Maharaj (08:08.064) Yes, the really cool thing now is we're at a stage where we are now the largest national transparent data in terms of municipal issues, right? And now what's happening is the municipalities are realising, okay, hang on, we've got this platform, and it actually shows everyone what's happening in their areas, right?And I'm now seeing the engagement. So I'll give you an example: eThekwini and us had a meeting about three weeks ago, and we were with the mayor in the boardroom and we put it up on the screen because what residents don't see is the back end and the possibilities of what we can do with the data, right? The app is probably 20 or 30% of the entire platform. But we've developed real-time infrastructure portals, right? Where in real time you can see exactly what's happening on the map and where it's happening and you can pick up trends—and it's the most fascinating portal to look at because it gives you a picture of the entire city.So, eThekwini were blown away, and I must say I'm really impressed with the feedback from them. So we are having another follow-up meeting next week where they've invited all the heads of departments and their reporting managers and all of—I don't know what their portfolio names are—but to come into a meeting and see how this could possibly integrate with the city.And that was the long-term and the amazing part is again it's built by residents, right? Because at the end of the day, if a resident's needs are met and it's through a simple thing of like communication with them, all of a sudden, the bigger picture unfolds. So I'm really happy that they've engaged with us and they've understood that the system is at a capacity now where it's showing what it's capable of. And I think once one of the municipalities joins on, the others will see the impact that it has and eventually will join on.Linda van Tilburg (10:21.287) And what's the feedback from users?Keyuren Maharaj (10:23.98) So the users initially, it was a bit here, there, and everywhere. And now looking back, I can totally understand because I had no idea about UI, right? User interface. And I remember when I designed the app, my only thing was making it look nice with like colours. But now we've refined it and we've done like research, you know—how should this open and how does this information need to look, where your thumb needs to be on the actual app, right? So we're now going into stuff like that.But initially, as I said, residents thought that if they put it on this app, it was going to get fixed, right? So we had some negative feedback initially, but the cool thing—and what not a lot of people know—is that when I launched the app, for the first few weeks, I actually didn't tell anyone it was mine. So no one knew who built the app. And the nice thing was it made me take the negative feedback, not personally, but constructively. And I would say those initial three or four weeks when it was up and running were crucial because that constructive feedback gave the foundation of what it is at this point.So, these days the feedback is amazing. We've got communities who are now urging residents to use it. And one of the big reasons is because we've developed, for the first time in the country, like mini municipal dashboards. So in South Africa, our councillors—you know, again, some work, some don't, some are lost. And it's actually the ratepayers and these NGOs in your communities who are doing the groundwork. And we said, surely there should be something that we can give them to make their lives a bit easier.So we've developed such cool community portals, and they run like mini municipal systems. So they categorise all your issues within a geo-fenced area. Not only that, but the organisations can talk through their portal to the app and give updates. And their updates are verified updates with like a little blue tick like Twitter. So every issue basically has a story now. And you can see who was updating it? What were the updates? Were the teams on site? Did they fix it? Did they not do a good job? So that type of feedback is good. And again, it gives your community leaders direct access to these types of issues. So ja, the feedback's been really, really awesome.Linda van Tilburg (13:07.791) Are there privacy concerns? Because with your app you can maybe locate exactly where a person is..Read more:.BN Daybreak Fri 20 Feb: Global tensions, F1 roadblocks, and 'unholy pact' revealed.Keyuren Maharaj (13:13.246) Right, so when we were doing the app, the one thing that I didn't want was for someone to register. And it was a bit of a headache when we started, because you know, any app you download now, you have to like register and give name, information, address, ID numbers sometimes. And there were some apps in South Africa which were similar reporting apps for potholes in Joburg. And I think there was another one in Cape Town. And it literally asks you for your entire life story just to log in to register and report a pothole.So we said we are not going to collect any personal information. And I'm very proud that we've stuck that out and we haven't—because a lot of people wanted us to register so we can track who was logging each issue. But the only thing we do is the WhatsApp number for your concierge service and just for follow-ups. We have no personal information attached to any issues.The other reason we need your number is because certain municipal departments require that when you report an issue, again, to follow up. So Thekwini's Electricity Department, which has been excellent in resolving the issues, will contact the resident within an hour or so to check up on them and so forth. So I was really impressed with that. And you don't get to see that in the bigger picture, right?But we don't do that. We only log the user's location or track it when they've pressed the "Use My Location" button. And again, it's for a split second just to log that issue. So we don't do continuous tracking. And that's basically it. So you can open the app, log an issue, and that's it. So I tell people, don't be afraid that we're going to sell any private data because we don't even collect it in the first place. And that is one of the main differences between us and your general municipal app or even third-party apps.Linda van Tilburg (15:14.426) So, tell us about yourself. This is not the first time you do this kind of community service, is it?Keyuren Maharaj (15:20.459) Ja, it is not. I always get laughed at because I'm 23 and I sit in these meetings where I'm almost always the youngest. And the really cool part is it's been incredible because you get to learn so much, you know, and it's like a sponge. You sit in these meetings and you just like collect all of this information. And then also because you are slightly younger, you get to pick up what doesn't make sense and what's like pointless in doing.But in terms of myself, I'm a sailor. So I started sailing in high school at Glenwood High School and it was probably one of the weirdest things that I initially did because no one ever did that sport, especially in Durban or in South Africa. But I am now a skipper, so I skipper the university's team. And that's been a major aspect of my life in terms of leadership, right? Because you're on a yacht and as the skipper, you are basically in charge of that vessel and the crew on it. Also in a safety aspect, right?So I think the leadership came from there. And then I started the Glenwood Ratepayers Association along with Heather Ruess, who's been incredible in the community. And I've learned a lot from her. And it was through that initiative where I then went to eThekwini. So it was almost like a puzzle. But the amazing thing is again, it's the learning curve. Because not a lot of young people are able to learn about the municipal systems, but not only that, managing infrastructure, managing people, managing projects, and so forth. So it's been a really different type of—I wouldn't say upbringing, but different type of introduction to life. But again, it's been incredible to be a part of all of these things.Another thing is I'm a cyclist, love the road cycling. I do all the the Durban Cycle tours and a few in Johannesburg. And ja, that's basically a little bit about myself.Linda van Tilburg (17:39.129) So what's your long-term vision? A civic platform? A commercial data tool or national watchdog? Where do you want to take this?Keyuren Maharaj (17:49.036) Right, so a very interesting question and if you asked me three months ago, I would have been a bit confused. But now what we are seeing is we've collected—tomorrow we're going to be crossing 3,000 issues. And from those 3,000 issues across over 24 municipalities—25 municipalities—we've got raw data and about 11 million points of raw data.And this now paints a picture. So what we are now doing is we're going to be launching next week a national digital infrastructure management centre. And you can imagine it's been ridiculously hard because to manage issues in one metropolitan municipality is crazy. To think of doing it across the country is even worse. But we've managed to use the tech to help us.And once that goes live, we'll basically be able in real time to see exactly what's happening in any city. And this is where the intelligence comes into play. So we've got tools that we've deployed just these last two weeks. It's an AI suite for service delivery. And everyone was asking me, when am I going to bring AI into the app? And I said, I'll only do it when it's used constructively.So in terms of the AI: when you take a picture of a pothole and log it, our AI machine learning algorithms will be able to detect the size, the depth, the type of pothole, the materials needed to fix it, and then the actual cost of those materials needed—obviously excluding labour and so forth.In terms of the water, we've now got our AI. When you log a water leak, just from the photo, it'll be able to tell us using pipe diameters, spray heights, pressure—how many litres of water per hour is being wasted. And it's such a cool thing because you can now see in real time the impact of that complaint of that issue, which you could never see before. And again, we've made all this information available to users on the app, right?So it's very new for people. So I had a lady yesterday who was logging a water leak, and she said, I see this new pink AI insights button and I pressed it and it was telling me in real time how many litres of water was being wasted. And she said, is that real? I was like, ja, you can now see, right? And again, it's going to improve with time, but that tells us now—or it gives us again—it's the layers of data.So because Johannesburg obviously is undergoing a water crisis at the moment, we ran the algorithm on all the past issues in Johannesburg. And it was just a handful, right? And it's just from the issues logged on the app, between 650 and 920,000 litres were wasted. And that is incredible to have that type of insight as a resident. But it just makes you understand the actual impact that these types of water leaks has on the bigger picture.You can imagine if every single water leak was logged on the app, which eventually it probably will happen, we're going to get such an incredible picture of these cities and what the infrastructure is going through. It's all going to tie into the National Management Centre. And as I said, the data is going to be really cool, especially for risk and predictive insights.So in a few months, we'll be able to actually say which pipes need to be replaced in a city. We'll be able to even give you insights if there's, for example—I'll give you an example, right? If the platform picks up that there's a rainstorm coming in and if someone stays on a road where stormwater drains are blocked, that person theoretically could get a message just saying, warning, please watch out—your roads might be prone to flooding. Again, all from the app.And I've tried to explain to residents that 10 seconds that you take to log a fault, the impact of that lasts literally forever. Because remember, all the issues on the platform are not going to get lost. They might disappear from the map, but all their data is still in the database. So we can go back in time and actually check for trends and so forth.So ja, it's going to become almost like an infrastructure intelligence platform—so like your high-level civic tech type of platforms or similar platforms. And it's just been incredible. I mean, seven months ago, if you said this is what was going to happen, I would have probably laughed—but it shows how we can use technology constructively, even for the most minor stuff to better it.Linda van Tilburg (23:07.756) Do you have investors in your company or are you raising money?Keyuren Maharaj (23:10.986) So this has been bootstrapped by myself from the initial point. I have no idea how I've done it. It's been quite an incredible journey. But I don't have any investors. We've now had to put CityMender under a technologies company. We have paid—well, it's paid and pending—but that has been processed. And that was again a major hurdle for us coming from a small community type of tracking tool to now a national platform. And then we've done the trademarks too.So ja, at this point it's been bootstrapped, but we do have plans to expand in the next two to three months. And we're going to be able to offer the most incredible type of technologies to residents. And the other big part was the inclusivity aspect. So we have—you can use the app in Afrikaans, Zulu, and in English. And I've never seen another reporting app that does that, and that should be standard, right, in South Africa.So we are going to be adding two or three more languages this year and see how that goes. But the idea is to create a—I don't like to use the word counsellor, but as I said, a virtual butler for service delivery. If you log the issue on the app, eventually you know that that issue is being tracked and the system along with yourself will make sure that it gets fixed at some point.

KZN student’s CityMenderSA app tracks SA’s infrastructure failures & uncovers Jozi’s hidden water losses – Keyuren Maharaj

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