THEORETICAL INTERPRETATION OF E-GOVERNMENT IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGES IN SOUTH AFRICA: A CASE STUDY OF A SELECTED PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT

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Abstract

This paper discusses factors influencing e-Government initiatives by African Governments to improve services to their citizens, businesses and their constituent. It further discusses, as a socially constructed phenomenon, the degree of readiness of governments to implement e-Government initiatives to improve services. The discussion uses Actor Network Theory (ANT) and in particular the concepts of moments of translation and irreversibility as a lens through which to understand and interpret the social phenomenon. Although a number of e-Government researchers have argued that strong leadership and clear vision is required to implement e-Government initiatives, the view is that Governments have continuously failed to achieve the intended results. E-Government potentials and benefits which are well documented in Information Systems and e-Government research literature have not been realised by governments due to limited capabilities in the administration of the public service. The study applied a deductive approach where semi-structured interviews were used for data collection in a selected Provincial Government in South Africa. The outcome is a general framework to determine the readiness of South Africa government and generally, African governments for e-Government initiatives to achieve the intended results.

Keywords: Government, e-Government, Transformation, Actors, Services

How to cite this paper: Twum-Darko, M., Noruwana, N., & Sewchurran, K. (2015). Theoretical interpretation of e-government implementation challenges in South Africa: A case study of a selected provincial government. Journal of Governance and Regulation, 4(1-2), 175-185. https://doi.org/10.22495/jgr_v4_i1_c2_p2