A South African developmental perspective on e-government

Abstract

Historically, governments have utilised technologies associated with information and communication to improve interaction with their constituents. Currently, the extent of possibilities that information and communications technology pose to governments in exercising their governance function, are innumerable. The South African Government has launched a number of e-government initiatives since its inception in 1994. Some of these initiatives involve state-of-the-art technology and places the Country amidst the prominent developed countries as far as e-government practices are concerned. However, it should be noted that South Africa is an emerging democracy with extensive development challenges. For e-government to be successfully implemented, a number of pitfalls should be avoided. In addition, extensive capital investment, both human and otherwise should be incurred. In this regard, therefore, it is appropriate to scrutinise international best practices in this regard. This paper serves to identify South Africa's level of development in this regard and highlights some of the issues for consideration in this regard.