Eldrid Jordaan, the founder of GovChat, has resigned as CEO. Goitse Konopi, the organization’s chief data officer, has also quit.
The announcement comes just three months after the citizen engagement platform extended its contract with the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs for another five years (COGTA).
Jordaan said in a brief statement this morning that it has been an honour to serve his country through the “extremely challenging” COVID-19 pandemic.
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“I would like to thank our phenomenal partners, including the South African government, the United Nations, UNICEF, Absa, Telkom/BCX, MTN and AWS, for an incredible journey. This collaboration of public-private partnerships showed what is possible if we all steer in the same direction, as tens of millions of South African lives were impacted by GovChat.”
Jordaan briefly mentions that he will take some time off to reflect on the journey and evaluate his future contribution.
He also suggests that he will most likely begin writing his book, titled “GovChat vs Facebook: The David & Goliath Story.” “I’ll keep you updated,” he promises.
GovChat was founded in 2016 and launched in 2018 in collaboration with COGTA. It is accessible via WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, SMS, and USSD channels.
The official government communications platform has not had an easy ride.
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The start-up had been mired in a legal dispute with Facebook parent firm Meta for the previous two years, with the tech giant accusing it of violating its terms of service.
When Meta-owned WhatsApp attempted to remove GovChat and #LetsTalk, a technological start-up that connects government and citizens, from the WhatsApp Business application programming interface, there was a public outcry (API).
When the Competition Commission referred Meta Platforms (previously known as Facebook) and its subsidiaries, WhatsApp and Facebook South Africa (collectively referred to as Facebook), to the Competition Tribunal for prosecution for abuse of dominance, GovChat emerged victorious.
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The commission claimed that Facebook imposed and/or selectively enforced exclusionary terms and conditions governing access to the WhatsApp Business API, primarily data use limits.
In response, Meta committed to protect its platforms against “abuse,” pointing out that WhatsApp’s behaviour to until has been perfectly compatible with the principles of the Competition Act, and it is merely attempting to apply its terms and conditions equally.
To add fuel to the flames, the non-profit Open Secrets published a report titled “Digital profiteers: Who Profits Next from Social Grants?” in November of last year. It lists GovChat as one of the private corporations that profit from the personal data gathered through their digital platforms developed in collaboration with governments.
Jordaan, on the other hand, categorically denied these claims, stating, “GovChat takes data privacy and security very, very seriously.”
“Yes, we are a for-profit company, but not once have we said we will profit out of personal data and information from citizens. The information management system that we provide to various government departments is anonymised, aggregated and stripped of raw information. Based on contractual agreements with government, GovChat cannot sell or transfer data to a third-party.”
The now-former CEO also stated that GovChat’s data collection and use complies with all laws, including the Personal Information Protection Act and the General Data Protection Regulation.
Despite its difficulties, GovChat has been praised for providing public services to more than 9.3 million active users.
Among other things, the platform allows users to submit municipal service complaints across the country to the proper municipality and allows communities to connect with and learn about their ward councillor and traditional authority.
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At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, it enabled millions of South Africans to apply for social relief in distress (SRD) grants from the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA).
It also stepped in to help citizens divert their inquiries about SRD grants to popular instant messaging platforms, WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, using its fully-automated chatbot.
SASSA saved R7.5 million as a result of the automated contact centre service, as previously revealed by GovChat.
GovChat has stated that the next phase will include citizens having access to more co-created features and the ability to access more government services digitally.
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer, who has several years of experience working in Africa’s burgeoning tech startup industry. He has closed multi-million dollar deals bordering on venture capital, private equity, intellectual property (trademark, patent or design, etc.), mergers and acquisitions, in countries such as in the Delaware, New York, UK, Singapore, British Virgin Islands, South Africa, Nigeria etc. He’s also a corporate governance and cross-border data privacy and tax expert.
As an award-winning writer and researcher, he is passionate about telling the African startup story, and is one of the continent’s pioneers in this regard. You can book a session and speak with him using the link: https://insightsbyexperts.com/view_expert/charles-rapulu-udoh