Code Red - Red Tape Tracker System

Team 3 – Code Red (Red Tape Tracker System)

Abstract

The Western Cape Government’s Red Tape Reduction Unit (RTRU) helps businesses resolve regulatory and administrative obstacles. Since 2011 its Business Helpline has handled over 9,000 cases, but the system behind it records cases rather than managing them. Case progression is manual, SLA deadlines exist only as a field with no monitoring, businesses cannot log or track their own cases, and staff rely on Excel for analysis. This project set out to redesign the RTRU’s case management system so that cases move forward reliably and everyone involved can see where things stand.

We built a web-based, dual-access platform using a React frontend, a Python Flask API and a Firebase Firestore database. Businesses log and track their own cases, while staff manage them through role-based dashboards. The system automates workflow and SLA enforcement, keeps a full audit trail of every change, and uses the Google Gemini API to pre-fill case details from a plain-language description.

Working with our sponsor showed that the main source of delay was visibility rather than volume: cases stalled because nobody was alerted when they did. Self-service capture and automated SLA alerts target this directly, and AI-assisted capture replaced a clunky multi-tab process, although its output needed validation and user review to stay reliable.

We conclude that targeted automation and better visibility can make an established government service faster and more accountable, without replacing the people who actually resolve the cases.