e-Participation in local government enables community voices to be heard, among others, on local economic development, decision-making and enhancing service delivery. This policy brief seeks to answer the question, ‘What are the design and implementation strategies that can be used in sustaining digital public participation initiatives at the local government
level in South Africa?’ In answering this question, we aim to highlight the practical aspects of introducing e-participation mechanisms in local governance structures in municipalities with differing human and material resource capacity levels. This is done through our observations implementing the e-Participation and Policy Modelling Platform for South Africa (ePPMOSA) project, an initiative supported by the Department of Science, Technology and Innovation (DSTI), and implemented by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) with partners.1 Our findings highlight the importance of stakeholder engagement, technological considerations, and the need for tailored approaches for each municipality’s unique circumstances to drive equitable and inclusive citizen participation using emerging technologies at the municipal level. This has policy implications for enhancing e-government and citizen participation in local government.
– By Dr Simangele Dlamini; Dr Paul Plantinga; Dr Yul Derek Davids; Dr Odilile Ayodele; Ms Diana Sanchez and Ms Nonkululeko Dlamin
