South Africa’s Eastern Cape Department of Transport has adopted a new digital attendance and workforce management system built entirely on Microsoft Power Platform. NKUSI IT Siyasebenza, a local technology partner, launched the solution, branded EPWP Smart Track, to automate monitoring for the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) participants. The move marks a significant step in public sector digitisation, leveraging low-code tools to replace paper-based processes with real-time, audit-ready data.

The EPWP is a nationwide government initiative providing temporary employment and training to unemployed people. Managing thousands of workers across multiple sites has traditionally relied on manual registers and fragmented reporting. EPWP Smart Track streamlines this by capturing attendance via mobile devices, centralising data in the Microsoft Dataverse, and surfacing insights through Power BI dashboards. The solution went live earlier this year and already tracks over 15,000 participants in the province.

Why Low-Code Matters for Government

Public sector organisations often struggle with lengthy software development cycles and limited budgets. Power Platform — encompassing Power Apps, Power Automate, Power BI, and Power Virtual Agents — enables rapid creation of custom business applications with minimal coding. For the Eastern Cape project, NKUSI IT Siyasebenza used canvas apps for field data entry, model-driven apps for management portals, and automated workflows to trigger alerts and reports.

“We built the entire system in under three months, from initial design to production deployment,” said Siyabulela Nkuhlu, director at NKUSI IT. “The low-code approach allowed us to iterate quickly based on feedback from site supervisors and departmental heads, something that would have been impossible with traditional development.” The agility of Power Platform also means the system can evolve without significant reinvestment — a crucial factor for sustainability in government projects.

Core Features of EPWP Smart Track

At its core, the system digitises the daily sign-in process. Participants check in using a mobile app that verifies their identity through biometrics or QR codes, depending on the device available. Geolocation tagging confirms they are at the correct work site, reducing ghost workers and time fraud. Data syncs in real time to the cloud, giving programme managers an instant view of attendance patterns.

Beyond sign-in, the solution tracks worker profiles, project assignments, and payroll triggers. Automated workflows send daily absence summaries to supervisors and generate monthly attendance reports for the department. Power BI dashboards display live metrics: total participants active, absenteeism rates, gender distribution, and project completion statistics. This data granularity was previously unattainable.

For audit purposes, every transaction is timestamped and stored in Dataverse, providing a clear trail for compliance checks. The Eastern Cape Department of Transport can now generate financial reconciliations and qualitative reports at the click of a button — a requirement highlighted by the Auditor-General of South Africa in past audits of EPWP programmes.

The Technology Stack Explained

EPWP Smart Track runs on Microsoft’s secure government cloud infrastructure, adhering to local data residency and privacy regulations. The solution architecture includes:

  • Power Apps: Canvas app for field workers and supervisors to manage attendance, timesheets, and leave requests. A model-driven app for administrative back-office tasks like worker registration and project setup.
  • Power Automate: Over 50 automated flows handle everything from welcome emails to new participants to nightly data consolidation jobs that feed the data warehouse.
  • Power BI: Custom reports for operational oversight, demographic analysis, and predictive modelling of worker availability.
  • Dataverse: The central database, with custom entities for participants, projects, sites, and attendance events. Role-based security ensures field staff only see their assigned workers.
  • Microsoft Teams: Integration with Teams delivers push notifications to managers via the Power Apps mobile experience, keeping communication centralised.

The entire stack is licensed under existing Microsoft 365 subscriptions, minimising additional software costs. “One of the biggest selling points for the department was that they didn’t need to procure new infrastructure,” explained Nkuhlu. “They were already paying for these tools as part of their enterprise agreement. We just configured them to solve a real business problem.”

Impact on the Ground

Early feedback from the Eastern Cape points to measurable improvements. Site supervisors report saving up to two hours per day previously spent on manual registers. The department’s EPWP coordination unit now produces weekly compliance reports in minutes, compared to the two weeks it took to collate paper forms. Financial officials can cross-check attendance data with payroll records, virtually eliminating duplicate or fraudulent payments.

Workers also benefit. The system provides a transparent record of their attendance, which can be used to demonstrate work history for future employment opportunities. Some pilot sites have introduced self-service kiosks where participants can view their own duty schedules and payment status, increasing trust in the programme.

For the Eastern Cape, a province with vast rural areas and limited connectivity, the solution’s offline capability is critical. The canvas app stores data locally when network is unavailable and syncs once the device reconnects. This design choice arose from field testing in remote areas like OR Tambo and Alfred Nzo district municipalities, where signal can be intermittent.

Lessons for Public Sector IT Modernisation

The EPWP Smart Track rollout offers a blueprint for other government departments grappling with similar challenges. Key takeaways include:

  • Start small, iterate fast: NKUSI IT began with a single pilot municipality, refined the app based on real user feedback, then scaled across the province.
  • Leverage existing investments: By building on Microsoft 365, the solution avoided lengthy procurement and security reviews that often stall digital projects.
  • Design for the least tech-savvy user: The field app uses simplified icons, large buttons, and local-language support (isiXhosa) to accommodate workers with varying digital literacy.
  • Embed auditability from day one: Automated logging and role-based access eased compliance conversations with departmental auditors.

These principles align with global trends in government digital transformation, where low-code platforms are increasingly favoured for their speed and cost-effectiveness. According to Gartner, by 2025, 70% of new applications developed by government will use low-code or no-code technologies.

The Road Ahead

NKUSI IT Siyasebenza plans to extend EPWP Smart Track to other provinces and departments, with expressions of interest already received from KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape. Future enhancements may include citizen-facing portals where the public can verify EPWP projects in their area, and integration with the national Department of Public Works’ central database.

The company is also exploring AI Builder, a Power Platform capability for adding machine learning models, to predict absenteeism trends and optimise worker allocation. “With enough historical data, we can start flagging sites that are likely to have low turnout and proactively take corrective action,” Nkuhlu said.

For the Windows and Microsoft ecosystem community, EPWP Smart Track serves as a compelling case study of how low-code tools are making inroads into large-scale government operations — a space historically dominated by bespoke, expensive enterprise software. It demonstrates that with the right partner and a commitment to agile methodology, even sectors as complex as public works can achieve rapid, impactful digitisation.