Development of an internet based housing demand database system for the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Human Settlements

Abstract

The introduction of the Integrated Residential Development Programme (IRDP) in 2008 created challenges for the administration of all waiting lists and housing demand databases in South Africa as the provisioning of housing by the National Housing Programme was revised to include a higher earning per household. This resulted in an increase in the number of applications in all provinces. The fact that the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Human Settlements was processing applications manually because their electronic system was obsolete, only served to exacerbate matters. To address this problem of poor service provisioning at KZN-DHS, an automated internet based system was considered a promising solution to facilitate effective communication between the department and its clients. It was therefore important to find out which business activities and functional requirements of the KZN-DHS that when automated as an internet based application would improve housing service provisioning in the province. The purpose of this study therefore was to modify and enhance the old housing demand (electronic) database system for the KZN-DHS as the old system was not meeting their requirements and was not serving the citizens of the province efficiently. The researcher used Entity Relationship (ER) Model and Unified Modelling Language (UML) as a framework to develop an internet based system to leverage the business process, minimize capturing errors and improve administration processes in the KZN-DHS. Using a JAD session, semi-structured interviews she determined the needs and requirements of the users before developing, implementing and testing the system. Implementation alerted the researcher to errors/issues which were addressed to ensure optimal functioning of the system. This study makes recommendations for maintenance of the system and discusses implications for further research.