Examining E-Services and Citizen Engagement for Sustainable Local Governance. Lessons for South Africa in the Post-COVID-19 era
Lewis Edwin Chigova 
& Costa Hofisi
Issue: Vol.5 No.13 Issue Article 32 pp.2437-2451
DOI: https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.202451332 | Published online 31st October, 2024
© 2024 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
The COVID-19 pandemic underscored the critical role of digital transformation in maintaining essential services and sustaining governance processes. This paper thus sought to examine the nexus between e-services and citizen engagement for sustainable local governance in South Africa during the post-COVID-19 era. It employed a qualitative approach encompassing document analysis and literature review as data collection techniques. The study examined how e-services were utilised for service delivery and citizen engagement during the pandemic and examined their effects on service delivery. The paper highlights that while some local governments made strides in deploying e-services and engaging citizens through digital channels, a considerable portion faced limitations due to digital inequality, lack of infrastructure, and limited digital literacy. Furthermore, the study discusses the key pandemic lessons, including enhancing the responsiveness of e-services mechanisms in local government. The paper strongly recommends a comprehensive approach to digital inclusion, entailing technological access, skills development, and budgetary support, underlining the urgency and importance of this issue. While emphasizing the lessons learned in the post-COVID-19 recovery phase, this research contributes to the discourse on building resilient local governance systems through digital transformation.
Keywords: E-Services, Citizen Engagement, Sustainable Local Governance, Digital Inclusion, Post-COVID-19 Recovery, South Africa.
Ahn, Taehyun, and Kyong Duk Choi. “Grandparent Caregiving and Cognitive Functioning among Older People: Evidence from Korea.” Review of Economics of the Household 17 (2019): 553–86.
Ajeeli, Abid Thyab Al, and Yousif A Latif Al-Bastaki. Handbook of Research on E-Services in the Public Sector: E-Government Strategies and Advancements: E-Government Strategies and Advancements. IGI Global, 2010.
Arrieta, Tania. “An Assessment of the Resilience of Local Government in England: Was It Well‐Equipped to Overcome the Covid‐19 Pandemic?” The Political Quarterly 93, no. 3 (2022): 408–15.
Asgarkhani, Mehdi. “The Effectiveness of E-Service in Local Government: A Case Study,” 2005.
Atwah Al-ma’aitah, Mohammad. “The Impact Of Employees’resistance To Change On E-Government Innovation And Value Creation.” International Journal of Ebusiness and Egovernment Studies 14, no. 2 (2022): 166–98.
Bayona-Oré, S., and V. Morales Lozada. “ E-Government and e-Services in Local Government: A Case Study,” 2021. https://repositorio.autonoma.edu.pe/handle/20.500.13067/1593.
Benyera, Everisto. The Fourth Industrial Revolution and the Recolonisation of Africa: The Coloniality of Data. Taylor & Francis, 2021.
Blom, P P, and D E Uwizeyimana. “Assessing the Effectiveness of E-Government and e-Governance in South Africa: During National Lockdown 2020.” Research in World Economy 11, no. 5 (2020): 208–19.
Bojtor, András, and Gábor Bozsó. “Comparative Analysis of Evidence Based Policies in the Era of Digitalization.” In Central and Eastern European EDem and EGov Days, 477–85, 2020.
Bryce, Cormac, Patrick Ring, Simon Ashby, and Jamie K Wardman. “Resilience in the Face of Uncertainty: Early Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic.” In COVID-19,48–55.Routledge, 2022.
Bušelić, Vjeran, Miroslav Slamić, and Amelia Kovačević. “Complex Digital Citizen Services in Coronavirus Age.” In Central European Conference on Information and Intelligent Systems, 89–96. Faculty of Organization and Informatics Varazdin, 2020.
Chigova, L. E. “ Civic Crowdfunding for Community Infrastructure Rehabilitation: The Case of the City of Harare.” North-West University (South Africa), 2020.
Chou, Shuo-Yan.“The Fourth Industrial Revolution.” Journal of International Affairs 72, no.1(2018): 107–20.
Cichosz, Marzenna, Carl Marcus Wallenburg, and A Michael Knemeyer. “Digital Transformation at Logistics Service Providers: Barriers, Success Factors and Leading Practices.” The International Journal of Logistics Management 31, no. 2 (2020): 209–38.
Damanpour, F., and Schneider, M., “Characteristics of innovation and innovation adoption in public organizations: Assessing the role of managers.” Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 19(3), (2009); 495-522.
Denhardt, Robert B, and Janet Vinzant Denhardt. “The New Public Service: Serving Rather than Steering.” Public Administration Review 60, no. 6 (2000): 549–59.
Department of Cooperative Governance. A South African Smart Cities Framework. Pretoria, 2021.
Department of Cooperative Governance (COGTA). Annual Report 2022/23. 2023. https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/202310/cogta-annual-report.pdf.
Distel, B., and N. Ogonek. “ To Adopt or Not to Adopt: A Literature Review on Barriers to Citizens’ Adoption of e-Government Services. .” In Proceedings of the 24th European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS 2016), 1–17, 2016.
Distel, Bettina. “Assessing Citizens’ Non-Adoption of Public e-Services in Germany.” Information Polity 25, no. 3 (2020): 339–60.
Dunleavy, P., Margetts, H., Bastow, S., Tinkler, J. “New Public Management Is Dead – Long Live Digital-Era Governance.” J. Public Adm. Res. Theor. 16, no. 3 (2006): 467–494.
Dunleavy, Patrick, Helen Margetts, Simon Bastow, and Jane Tinkler. “New Public Management Is Dead—Long Live Digital-Era Governance.” Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 16, no. 3 (2006): 467–94.
El-Haddadeh, Ramzi, Vishanth Weerakkody, and Shafi Al-Shafi. “The Complexities of Electronic Services Implementation and Institutionalisation in the Public Sector.” Information & Management 50, no. 4 (2013): 135–43.
Engin, Z., and Treleaven, P. “Algorithmic government: Automating public services and
Supporting civil servants in using data science technologies.” The Computer Journal, 62(3), (2019); 448-460.
Gabryelczyk, Renata. “Has COVID-19 Accelerated Digital Transformation? Initial Lessons Learned for Public Administrations.” Information Systems Management 37, no. 4 (2020): 303–9.
Gangneux, Justine, and Simon Joss. “Crisis as Driver of Digital Transformation? Scottish Local Governments’ Response to COVID-19.” Data & Policy 4 (2022): e26.
Gupta, S. Perspectives on Public Administration: New Public Service Approach. New Delhi: University of Delhi, 2016.
Hage J. T. “Organizational innovation and organizational change.” Annual Review of Sociology, 25(1), (1999); 597.
Hedlund, Elin. “Citizen’s Perspectives on Municipalities’ E-Services: A Study about How a Municipality Works with Their E-Services and How They Involve the Citizens,” 2020.
Heeks, Richard. “Reinventing Government in the Information Age.” In Reinventing Government in the Information Age, 31–43. Routledge, 2002.
———. “Understanding E-Governance for Development,” 2001.
Holgersson, Jesper, and Fredrik Karlsson. “Public E-Service Development: Understanding Citizens’ Conditions for Participation.” Government Information Quarterly 31, no. 3 (2014): 396–410.
Joseph, Juliet Eileen, and Robyn Williams. “A Retrospective Analysis: ICT for Improved Municipal Service Delivery amidst COVID-19.” EUREKA: Social and Humanities 2 (2022): 70–85.
Karwan, Kirk R, and Robert E Markland. “Integrating Service Design Principles and Information Technology to Improve Delivery and Productivity in Public Sector Operations: The Case of the South Carolina DMV.” Journal of Operations Management 24, no. 4 (2006): 347–62.
Lan, Zhiyong, and David H Rosenbloom. “Public Administration in Transition?” Public Administration Review 52, no. 6 (1992): 535–37.
Lfstedt, Ulrica. “E-Government Services in Local Governments a Study of Development in Swedish Municipalities.” Journal of Organisational Transformation & Social Change 4,no.2(2007):157–76.
Li, Meng-Hao, and Mary K Feeney. “Adoption of Electronic Technologies in Local US Governments: Distinguishing between e-Services and Communication Technologies.” The American Review of Public Administration 44, no. 1 (2014): 75–91.
Malahlela, M. J. and Malatji, T. L., E-services as customer care resource and mode of service delivery during the epidemic: A case study of Polokwane Local Municipality, Limpopo province. International Journal of Educational Review, Law And Social Sciences. 3 (5), (2023);1635-1643.
Mahwai, Nare, Charles Phiri, Sifiso Dlamini, Marlien Herselman, and Charles Phiri Isabel Meyer. “A Scoping Review for Proposing an EParticipation Framework for South African Local Municipalities.” In 2023 IST-Africa Conference (IST-Africa), 1–8. IEEE, 2023.
Marri, Amna Al, Fatma Albloosh, Sherif Moussa, and Haythem Elmessiry. “Study on the Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Government E-Service in Dubai.” In 2019 International Conference on Digitization (ICD), 153–59. IEEE, 2019.
Mashile, Thubelihlelenkululeko Zonke. Technology Integration and the Digital Divide: Understanding Factors That Impact on Educators’ Ability to Integrate Technology in South African Classrooms. University of Pretoria (South Africa), 2016.
Mayedwa, Mziwoxolo, and Jean-Paul Van Belle. “E-Government Actor’s Perspective: A Case of Local Municipalities in South Africa.” In 2021 Eighth International Conference on EDemocracy & EGovernment (ICEDEG), 188–93. IEEE, 2021.
Mhlanga, David, and Tankiso Moloi. “COVID-19 and the Digital Transformation of Education: What Are We Learning on 4IR in South Africa?” Education Sciences 10, no. 7 (2020): 180.
Milakovich, Michael E. Digital Governance: New Technologies for Improving Public Service and Participation. Routledge, 2012.
MJ Mafunisa Consulting. “The Viability of E-Techniques towards Service Delivery in the Local Government Sector,” 2021. https://cdn.lgseta.co.za/resources/Research/E-Techniques Final Report 31_03_2021 (Rev) (3).pdf.
Mukushwa, Zvimekria Clive, Jephias Mapuva, and Edson P Mutema. “The Practice of Participatory Budgeting during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Zimbabwe’s Local Government Sector: A Case of Chitungwiza Municipality.” The African Review 48, no. 2 (2021): 597–620.
Murenzi, P, and C D Olivier. “E-Government Challenges Faced by Selected District Municipalities in South Africa and Rwanda.” Administratio Publica 25, no. 1 (2017): 141–72.
Musdalifah, Farisha Sestri, Annada Nasyaya, and Anang Dwi Santoso. “Communicating the Crisis: Study on the Local Government’s Twitter Accounts During the Covid-19 Pandemic in Indonesia.” Ultimacomm: Jurnal Ilmu Komunikasi 15, no. 1 (2023): 77–94.
Nachit, H., and L. Belhcen. “Digital Transformation in Times of Covid-19 Pandemic: The Case of Morocco,” 2020. https://ssrn.com/abstracts=3645084.
Nawafleh, Sahem. “Factors Affecting the Continued Use of E-Government Websites by Citizens: An Exploratory Study in the Jordanian Public Sector.” Transforming Government: People, Process and Policy 12, no. 3/4 (2018): 244–64.
Nel-Sanders, Danielle, and Aaron Malomane. “Challenges and Best Practices for E-Municipalities.” Africa’s Public Service Delivery & Performance Review 10, no. 1 (2022): 11.
Nemec, Juraj, and David Špaček. “The Covid-19 Pandemic and Local Government Finance: Czechia and Slovakia.” Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting & Financial Management 32, no. 5 (2020): 837–46.
OECD. “ Case Studies on the Regulatory Challenges Raised by Innovation and the Regulatory Responses,” 2021. www.oecd-ilibrary.org/sites/70df2cab-en/index.html?itemld=/content/component/70odf2cab-en#wrapper.
Olphert, Wendy, and Leela Damodaran. “Citizen Participation and Engagement in the Design of E-Government Services: The Missing Link in Effective ICT Design and Delivery.” Journal of the Association for Information Systems 8, no. 9 (2007): 27.
Osborne, D., and T. Gaebler. Reinventing Government. . Reading, MA: Addison Wesley, 1995.
Osborne, Stephen P. “The New Public Governance?” Public Management Review 8, no.3(2006):377–87.
Pantić, Marijana, Juaneé Cilliers, Guido Cimadomo, Fernando Montaño, Olusola Olufemi, Sally Torres Mallma, and Johan Van den Berg. “Challenges and Opportunities for Public Participation in Urban and Regional Planning during the COVID-19 Pandemic—Lessons Learned for the Future.” Land 10, no. 12 (2021): 1379.
Pappel, Ingrid, Valentyna Tsap, and Dirk Draheim. “The E-LocGov Model for Introducing e-Governance into Local Governments: An Estonian Case Study.” IEEE Transactions on Emerging Topics in Computing 9, no. 2 (2019): 597–611.
Rana, Nripendra P, Yogesh K Dwivedi, Michael D Williams, and Vishanth Weerakkody. “Investigating Success of an E-Government Initiative: Validation of an Integrated IS Success Model.” Information Systems Frontiers 17 (2015): 127–42.
Refat, Nadia, Muhammad Patwary, and Md Arafatur Rahman. “Digital Inclusion Towards E-Governance: Challenges and Issues.” Human Data Interaction, Disadvantage and Skills in the Community: Enabling Cross-Sector Environments for Postdigital Inclusion, 2023, 135–50.
Robinson, Mark. From Old Public Administration to the New Public Service: Implications for Public Sector Reform in Developing Countries. UNDP Global Centre for Public Service Excellence, 2015.
Rodic, B. “Across the Digital Divide with Regional Strategies and E-Services.” Raziskave in Razprave 4, no. 1 (2011): 44.
Rogers E. M., Diffusion of Innovations. New York, NY: Free Press, 2003.
Roztocki, Narcyz, Wojciech Strzelczyk, and Heinz Roland Weistroffer. “Impact of Pandemics on e Government Services: A Pilot Study,” 2021.
Santos, Ernani Marques dos, and Nicolau Reinhard. “Electronic Government Interoperability: Identifying the Barriers for Frameworks Adoption.” Social Science Computer Review 30, no. 1 (2012): 71–82.
Sarantis, Dimitrios, Delfina Soares, Deniz Susar, and Vincenzo Aquaro. “Local E-Government Development: Results of an International Survey.” In Proceedings of the 15th International Conference on Theory and Practice of Electronic Governance, 391–96, 2022.
Schneider, H., Okeyo, I.L., Du Toit, A., Engelbrecht, B., London, L., Pegram, E., Reagon, G.
and Cloete, K., “Intersectoral collaboration before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Western Cape: Implications for future whole-of-society approaches to health and wellbeing.” South African Health Review, (1), (2021);1-8.
Schwester, Richard W. “Examining the Barriers to E‑Government Adoption.” Electronic Journal of E-Government 7, no. 1 (2009): pp113-122.
Shao, Deo, Fredrick R Ishengoma, Charalampos Alexopoulos, Stuti Saxena, Anastasija Nikiforova, and Ricardo Matheus. “Integration of IoT into E-Government.” Foresight 25, no. 5 (2023): 734–50.
Shava, Elvin, and Costa Hofisi. “Challenges and Opportunities for Public Administration in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.” African Journal of Public Affairs 9, no. 9 (2017): 203–15.
Siebritz, Lindy-Anne, Ahmad Desai, Serena Coetzee, and Antony K Cooper. “Capacitating Local Governments for the Digital Earth Vision: Lessons Learnt from the Role of Municipalities in the South African Spatial Data Infrastructure.” International Journal of Digital Earth 14, no. 12 (2021): 1897–1917.
Sitto, Karabo, Elizabeth Lubinga, Sarah Chiumbu, Konosoang Sobane, and Nkosinothando Mpofu. “Evaluating South African and Namibian Governments’ Use of Digital Media during Covid‐19.” World Medical & Health Policy 14, no. 2 (2022): 325–42.
Soto-Acosta, Pedro. “COVID-19 Pandemic: Shifting Digital Transformation to a High-Speed Gear.” Information Systems Management 37, no. 4 (2020): 260–66.
Vyas-Doorgapersad, Shikha, and Ayola Bangani. “The Implementation of Gender Equality within the South African Public Service (1994–2019).” Africa’s Public Service Delivery and Performance Review 8, no. 1 (2020): 1–10.
Weerakkody, Vishanth, Marijn Janssen, and Kristian Hjort-Madsen. “Integration and Enterprise Architecture Challenges in E-Government: A European Perspective.” International Journal of Cases on Electronic Commerce (IJCEC) 3, no. 2 (2007): 13–35.
West, D. M. Digital Government: Technology and Public Sector Performance. Princeton: Princeton University Press., 2005.
Wright, C., N. Primo, V. Delbridge, and K. Fortuin. Data and Research as Key Enablers of City Outcomes: A Case Study of the City of Cape Town (2000-2022) . Cape Town: International Growth Centre, 2023.
Yang, Yao. “Towards a New Digital Era: Observing Local e-Government Services Adoption in a Chinese Municipality.” Future Internet 9, no. 3 (2017): 53.
Zhang, X., and C. Cho. “Lessons from Evaluations: UNDP Support to e-Governance,” 2022. https://www.sparkblue.org/system/files/2022-11/Reflections UNDP Support to E-Governance.pdf.
Lewis Edwin Chigova is a post-doctoral fellow under the Afrocentric Governance of Public Affairs research entity at North-West University’s Vanderbjilpark campus, South Africa. He holds a PhD in Public Management and Governance from North-West University – Potchefstroom, a Masters degree in Public Administration and an Honours in Administration degree from the University of Zimbabwe. His research interests include civic crowdfunding, public sector innovation, diaspora philanthropy, co-production, digital transformation and policy innovation. Lewis has written several peer-reviewed articles and book chapters and has presented many research papers at academic conferences. Lewis Edwin Chigova was once a teaching assistant at the University of Zimbabwe’s Governance and Public Management Department.
Costa Hofisi is a distinguished NRF-rated professor of Public Administration at North-West University. He is also the founding Research Director at North-West University’s Afrocentric Governance of Public Affairs. Professor Hofisi’s research interests are public sector innovation, public policy, monitoring and evaluation, and research methods. Additionally, he works as a consultant, focusing on innovation leadership, strategy development, monitoring, and evaluation. With over 50 publications and more than 40 master’s and PhD students, Professor Costa Hofisi has extensive experience in teaching and has developed training modules for the National School of Government.
Chigova, Lewis Edwin & Costa Hofisi. “Examining E-Services and Citizen Engagement for Sustainable Local Governance. Lessons for South Africa in the Post-COVID-19 era,” E-Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences 5, no.13 (2024): 2437-2451. https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.202451332
© 2024 The Author(s). Published and Maintained by Noyam Journals. This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
