Access to government information and services in the Western Cape has been made easier, with the launch of a trilingual web portal. This means that residents in the province will now be able to obtain such services and information in the province's three official languages: Xhosa, English and Afrikaans.

Finance and Economic Development MEC Ebrahim Rasool said the residents would now be able to hold government accountable by either calling, surfing the net or simply walking-in into its offices.

"To the best of our knowledge we have created the first isiXhosa web portal in the world, this is an important milestone for the Western Cape."

He said the web portal was written in jargon-free language and would also be used for publishing provincial tenders online.

According to him, the move was in direct response to many complaints received mainly from businesses, during government's Imbizo programmes in the province, about the lack of access to these services.

"For contractors in small towns across the province, this could bring real benefits. "There is no need to come to Cape Town to fetch the bulletin, dial up and you have access to tender advertisements, whether you are in Cape Town's Central Business District or Prince Albert," MEC Rasool said.

He said the trilingual web portal would also provide an information base for the Cape Gateway call centre that was launched last year. "Using the portal, the call centre operators aim to answer queries straight away without referring questions to government departments," he said.

The trilingual web portal address is www.capegateway.gov.za.