So the good news is the service is not tracking anyone. It essentially allows citizens to interact via Whatsapp or SMS with the Dept of Health to report, update, etc. South Africa has opted not to go the way of the Google / Apple API, or Ireland’s open sourced app.
One hopes the SMSs will be zero-rated so that the poor can actually make use of the service, and I’m wondering why the service was not actually incorporated into the existing SA Gov single-point-of-contact eServices, where government itself manages the WASP SMS service? That service already provides a dashboard for citizens to see their interactions with government (segmented by who needs to see what).
See COVIDConnect in South Africa – What it is, and what it isn’t
South Africans recently started receiving SMS messages from the Department of Health regarding their coronavirus test results, or regarding the fact that they may have been in contact with someone who tested positive for the virus that causes COVID-19.