Abstract
This study explored the potential use of social media as an effective tool for citizenbased
monitoring (CBM) of public service delivery in South Africa. The study
investigated how social media can enhance CBM practices and improve government
performance. The guiding research question of this study focused on understanding
the role of social media in enhancing CBM for public service delivery in South Africa.
A mixed-methods approach was adopted to gather and analyse data for this study.
Online and face-to-face surveys were administered to assess the extent of citizen
involvement in monitoring public service delivery, with a specific focus on the use of
social media. In-depth interviews were conducted with various stakeholders, including
government, community-based organisation, and community media representatives.
Furthermore, desktop research was conducted to facilitate a comparative analysis of
CBM practices within the national and international contexts with the focus on how
CBM contributes to enhancing public service delivery.
The findings of this study provide valuable insight into the potential of social media as
a tool for CBM in South Africa. While social media is not yet extensively utilised for
CBM purposes in South Africa, the findings revealed that citizens are actively using
social media platforms to express their concerns and complaints about service delivery
matters. The survey data highlighted that many citizens are leveraging social media
to monitor public service delivery and to share their views and concerns. Furthermore,
the stakeholder interviews shed light on the positive impact of social media in fostering
citizen engagement and promoting transparency in government performance. The
study highlighted that widely used social media platforms such as Facebook and
Twitter1 play a pivotal role as channels through which citizens can report issues related
to service delivery on the social media pages of their respective local municipalities.
These reports encompass various challenges, including delays, setbacks, and
disruptions that significantly affect local communities. These findings demonstrate the
potential of social media to facilitate effective CBM practices and to provide a platform
1 Even though Twitter is now referred to as “X”, as per its official name change, for clarity and
consistency, the name Twitter is used throughout the thesis.
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for citizens to actively participate in monitoring and improving public service delivery
in South Africa.
The study also identified various factors that influence the successful implementation
of CBM initiatives, which include the availability of financial resources, institutional
support and commitment, awareness and understanding of CBM among stakeholders,
and the capacity and skills of those involved in monitoring public service delivery.
Additionally, the study explored the legislative and governance requirements that
impact CBM practices in South Africa and found that while there are some existing
regulations, there is a lack of specific authoritative documentation that addresses all
the elements related to social media usage in CBM.
This study gave rise to a set of coherent recommendations aimed at bolstering CBM
through social media. These recommendations encompass attentive monitoring and
responsiveness to citizen feedback on service quality through dedicated social mediadriven
CBM tools. Given the increasing role of social media in CBM initiatives, it is
recommended that the legal and regulatory frameworks be strengthened to ensure
smooth integration, as this will enhance data-protection accountability and mitigate
potential risks associated with misinformation and privacy breaches. Recognising the
critical role of financial support in sustaining CBM initiatives, it is recommended to
allocate sufficient financial resources, supported by a robust institutional commitment,
to ensure CBM initiatives’ long-term effectiveness and viability. Given the observed
lack of public awareness and understanding of social media-enabled CBM, it is
recommended to prioritise raising awareness and fostering comprehension through
targeted communication strategies and educational initiatives. Overcoming barriers to
citizen engagement can be achieved by implementing user-friendly online portals that
are seamlessly integrated with social media platforms.