Abstract
M.Com. (Business Management)
Since the dawn of democracy, South Africa has experienced continued service delivery protests. The extent to which these protests manifest themselves could be indicative of the communication gap that exists between local councillors and communities. In response, communities might use protests to serve as a medium of communication to highlight their unhappiness with service delivery. The e-participation programme is an intervention introduced by the German International Cooperation to explore the potential and assist municipalities with the implementation of a short message system-based, two-way channel for citizen-municipality communication.
This study examined the level of readiness of municipalities with regard to the implementation and the sustainability of the e-participation programme. It used a mixed method approach to investigate a sample of municipalities. Findings and recommendations to government on considerations for implementation of the programme is discussed. The study concludes by highlighting earned benefits that can be enjoyed by all South African municipalities by employing the core pillars of various models used in other countries in implementing e-participation.