eGovernance-Africa.net

In sub Saharan Africa, South Africa has been one of the first countries to embark on projects and programmes which tend to harness the potential the ICT offer to provide valuable information that enhances economic, health and educational activities, and also to give a voice to traditionally unheard peoples. With the decline of the apartheid regime in the 1990s, there was a clear need for engaging the citizens and improve the overall governance environment. A few key projects and initiatives sought to apply new mechanisms for promoting participation and democracy.

 

Indeed, South Africa provides some facility for public comment on its government portal (www.gov.za). Although the range of public services offered on the website is not very extensive, it nevertheless offers citizens the opportunity to comment on a number of public documents on issues that are under consideration by policy-makers. A particularly notable feature is the launching of a national accessibility portal in 2004 to make ICT available for four million people with disabilities, as part of their social inclusion strategy. Termed as the South African National Accessibility Portal (NAP), the site is a one-stop information, services and communications channel that supports persons with disabilities, caregivers, the medical profession, and those offering services in this domain.

As of 1999, the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) relied on ICT to enable a more transparent election process, to reduce corruption and build more confidence. A third phase of the project involved the hosting of a Web site, which could be accessed by the public. The election results data stored at the Election Centre were replicated every 30 minutes to a database at The Internet Solution. To keep the public aware of the most up-to-date results through media feeds, data extracted from the servers was displayed on screens in the main counting area. The dedicated servers allowed the public to view the results at a national or provincial level, with the option of viewing the results in their own municipality and voting district)[1]

The Public Service Accountability Monitor (PSAM) (www.psam.ru.ac.za) is an independent research and monitoring institute dedicated to strengthening democracy in South Africa. By providing information on the management of public resources, the delivery of public services and handling of misconduct and corruption , PSAM assists parliament and South African citizens to hold government officials accountable for their performance. Flagship projects of PSAM includes Cse Monitoring, Performance monitoring and Civic Empowerment. The latter in particular launched a website in 2002 advising citizens of their rights, the responsibilities of public officials and mechanisms for reporting their complaints. (.(www.myrights.org.za)

 

In its effort to apply participatory processes to the communities, the government has initiated Multi-Purpose Community Centres (MPCCs), which are one-stop, integrated community development centres, enhancing community participation and offering services relevant to people’s needs. They aim to empower the poor and disadvantaged by providing access to government information and services, as well as resources from non-governmental organisations (NGOs), parastatals and business.

 

MPCC has the following six-block operational model which defines services and activities that should be offered at an MPCC:

 

·         Public services (national, provincial and local government services – e.g. sports complex, clinic, Home Affairs, municipal services, etc.)

·         Economic development services (financial and non-financial services, tenders, how to start a business, etc.)

·         Private sector and community activities (spaza shops, commercial activities, arts and crafts, food gardens, etc.)

·         Information and communication activities (content creation, community print media, MPCC newsletter, community radio stations, distribution services, etc.)

·         Office services (telecentre type services – fax, copiers, telephone, Internet, postal services, etc.)

·         Education and skills development services (Adult Basic Education and Training, computer training, business development skills, etc.)

 

In May 2001 the Provincial Government of the Western Cape (PGWC) set out a ten-year strategy for dealing with the challenges facing the province, in particular, channeling the forces of globalization for the elimination of poverty and the empowerment of people to lead fulfilling lives. Hence, the PGWC identified a set of programme and projects. Cape Online is One of them is the cape Gateway portal that was designed to improve internal efficiencies in service delivery, enhance overall competitiveness of the region and improve the lives of the Western Cape's citizens.

 

In fact, the rationale behind the Cape Gateway portal was explicit in the PGWC's White paper " preparing the Western Cape for the Knowledge economy of the 21^st Century'. The white paper itself echoed the one of the department of Arts, culture, Science and technology which stated that : 'The ability to maximize the use of knowledge is now consistent to be the single most important factor in deciding the

competitiveness of countries (regions) as well as their ability to empower their citizens through enhanced access to information''.

 

Cape Gateway started as an e-government portal where all citizens are able to access government information in all 11 official national languages from a single entry point. The vision of Cape online is to develop an innovative environment that facilitates a competitive knowledge based economy that promotes economic growth and enhances the quality of life for [our] people. Facets of the project include core projects that impact the core role of Government and those services that are intended to reach out to and potentially impact every citizen and business in the Province; online community projects which impact various communities of interest, involving specific groups of citizens and organizations; and external projects.

 

[Figure: Phases of the Cape Online Programme]

 

 

 

The different examples from South Africa indicate that an e-government portal is beginning to evolve from e-information to e-consultation. It is not clear, however, how the government intends to publish theresults of its consultative process and assess the performance of its portal And while the range of public services is not fully developed, there is clearly an attempt to organize the information according to the perceived needs of the public, and in several different languages.In the MPCC case and as Limpopo Premier Ngoako Ramathlodi puts it ‘’,[The Centre] would provide a two-way communication channel - people receive information from government, but it also empowers them to talk back to government about their needs and aspirations".

 

The extent to which the Cape gateway project has been able to impact the overall economic and social life of the region is yet to be assessed. However, as per evaluations conducted by Bridges.org in 2003 the project is well on course to empower citizens for a greater interaction with their local government. The fact that the portal is accessible in all official languages and the possibilities of interaction with the KEEG (the implementing Body) seems to indicate that the poor had had a channel for voicing his concerns.

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