“Mzansi Has Talent”: Durban Student Uses Tech Invention To Hold City Accountable
- A 23-year-old Durban engineering student created a free civic-tech app that allows residents to report potholes, outages, and leaks on a public map
- Built from lived experience, the platform was launched to bridge gaps between communities and municipalities, giving residents an easier way to demand accountability
- The app uses smart mapping, unique area IDs, photos, and multilingual support to track service delivery issues
A 23-year-old Durban student has developed a tech platform that lets residents report service delivery issues on a public map.
Source: Facebook
Keyuren Maharaj, a mechanical engineering student at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, is the brain behind CityMenderSA, a civic-tech application designed to expose problems such as potholes, broken streetlights, and water leaks while making it easier for communities to demand action.
The innovation, launched around August 2025, is positioning itself as one of South Africa’s first dedicated service delivery applications aimed at strengthening communication between citizens and local government. Built on lived experience in Durban, the platform was created to solve a widespread problem, such as residents seeing issues daily but feeling powerless to report them in a way that actually leads to follow-ups.
Smart mapping tool helps residents flag issues
In a Facebook post shared on 20 January 2026, Eric Apelgren noted that Maharaj’s journey into civic technology started with repeated encounters with neglected infrastructure across the city. Instead of accepting slow municipal responses, he channeled his engineering mindset into building a practical solution that anyone could use without barriers. The app is free and requires no registration. It also works on both mobile and desktop devices, making it accessible to residents across different communities.
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CityMenderSA uses technology to match reported issues with real-world locations. Each area has a unique ID for tracking, and users can quickly pin problems on a public map with a photo and a brief description.
Recent updates added more languages and new issue categories, including electricity faults and environmental hazards. Plans include using satellite data to spot potential problems early.
See the Facebook post below:
Mzansi weighs in on app’s impact
Facebook users shared mixed reactions, with some praising the innovation while others questioned whether municipalities would act on the reported issues.
Ebrahim Patel commented:
“This is impressive! SA has talent. The question is, who in the municipality is looking at the incidents and following up on them?”
Glen Robbins said:
“Will give it a go. eThekwini is not very good at responding to reports on e-services in my experience. So, it is interesting to see if this will work better.”
Aldren Breyton wrote:
“I've used this app for reporting a line of streetlights, and guess what, it was escalated to the municipality and was fixed very fast.”
Leisa Lamo-two highlighted:
“The Chinese have been using this type of app for years now, but well done to the young man for adapting it to the local context.”
Nishen Haripersad said:
“This is Great! He really did make an impact. But the real question is, will the municipalities or government do anything about the reports?”
Source: Facebook
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Source: Briefly News
