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Appropriating Digital Citizen Engagement in Resource Constrained Local Government Service Delivery: A Case Study in South Africa

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Evolving Perspectives on ICTs in Global Souths (IDIA 2020)

Part of the book series: Communications in Computer and Information Science ((CCIS,volume 1236))

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Abstract

South Africa is currently plagued with destructive civic protests associated with a lack of service delivery and deteriorating local government operations. Digital Citizen Engagement (DCE) has globally been promoted as a game changer in these circumstances, as it is identified as essential in facilitating a two-way communication and evidence-based engagement between government and citizens. However, programmes in resource constrained municipalities struggle to align and integrate ICTs with existing service delivery operations. The paper proposes a framework to support the appropriation of DCE in local government in South Africa. Adaptive Structuration Theory is applied to contextualize the study, using a pragmatist qualitative approach. The findings illustrate a holistic process needed and deduce that appropriation of DCE in a local municipality is a gradual process of complex learning which depends on the strength of the civil society context, the effectiveness of the enablers of social accountability, and inevitably political change.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa

    Mwazvita Machiri & Caroline Pade-Khene

Authors
  1. Mwazvita Machiri
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  2. Caroline Pade-Khene
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Correspondence to Caroline Pade-Khene .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. United Nations University Institute in Macau, Macau, China

    Don Rodney Junio

  2. University of South Africa, Roodepoort, South Africa

    Cecile Koopman

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Machiri, M., Pade-Khene, C. (2020). Appropriating Digital Citizen Engagement in Resource Constrained Local Government Service Delivery: A Case Study in South Africa. In: Junio, D., Koopman, C. (eds) Evolving Perspectives on ICTs in Global Souths. IDIA 2020. Communications in Computer and Information Science, vol 1236. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-52014-4_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-52014-4_10

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-52013-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-52014-4

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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