Democracy in South Democracy in South Africa: Africa: the role of e-Participationthe role of e-Participation
byLaban Bagui
Supervisor: Prof Andrew Bytheway
IDEA 2010 (Informatics and Design Evolutionary Advancement )
Hey Man... You are
just lazy!
What I am going to tell UWhat I am going to tell U
How I understand South African Democracy and Public participation in government
I will give you some experts view on eParticipation
I will recall some good examples around the globe
We will fly over some assessment frameworks and models
We will notice some gaps and we will tweak some roles of eParticipation that I pointed out
South Africa democratic South Africa democratic systemsystem South Africa is said to be a representative,
deliberative and participative democracy
(Republic of South Africa, 1996)
The legislature is predominant and public
participation is expected to be the mortar that would
join bricks together
Public participation is the responsibility of the speaker of
the parliament and implemented in Local government
There are three spheres of government: National,
Provincial and Local (South Africa Government, 2007)
Public participationPublic participation
Fig: A basic Public Participation model Source: Author
Expert1 Expert2 Expert3 Expert4Public Participation happens only for those who have means (Rich and influential)
To make the people heard in high spheres parliament has to have space for people to participate in debates.
Issues of participation for poor
Local government do not listen to people
Make people heard, which means to have his/her preferences recognised and influence policy and budget
People are not heard
Protests and demonstrations are the only means they have to get heard
Political parties are heard in parliament
Forms of active citizenship
Critical citizenship
Service delivery is certainly one of the main issues
Issues of dissatisfaction and complaints
Service delivery protests Service delivery protest truly for recognition and to show their frustration
There is an issue accessing information on government channels
Information access issues
Not all departments use technology
People need to earn the right to speak to others
Problem of elitism
Civil society needs to be rooted in the ground
Access to the judiciary is difficult
The systems should be built by the private sector
Leaders should be educated in the use of ICT
Need for cultural and electoral reform
Local areas
Internet and mobile technology (web, mobisite, sms, users opinion tracking on fora, banners, adds on sites)
Cellphones, sms are key Library campaigns Mobile for protests
Mobile participation
Sms comments on topic
Online deliberation
People should deliberate online
Technology can help in context where people have power
Experts opinionsExperts opinions
Public Participation Public Participation stakeholdersstakeholders• Parliament• Specific government departments
(SITA)• Justice courts• Institutional offices• other governments• Individuals• Community based organizations (CBOs)• Non government organisations (NGOs)• Businesses • Media, and even• Organized crime.
Public participation Public participation domainsdomainsLaw and policy makingGovernment decision making
(budgeting and planning)SecurityAnd others...
Public participation areasPublic participation areas
EU and SA comparative areas of public participation (source: Author)
European Union (EU) South Africa (SA)
Information provision Government communication
Consultation Public hearings, demonstration, protests
Deliberation Indabas and Imbizos, public meetings and forums
Community building / collaborative environment
(principally through CBOs and NGOs)
Campaigning Lobbying, petitioning
Electioneering (limited to poster campaigning)
Mediation (very limited)
Voting Votes at election times,
Polling (none)
(e)Public participation world (e)Public participation world widewidePorto Alegre, Belo Horizonte,France presidential (Prdt N.
Sarkozi)USA presidential (Prdt B. Obama)
1. Macintosh and Whyte (2008) framework for characterising e-participation: from level of engagements to critical success factors
2. Government IT management challenges and key issues (Di Maio et al., 2010): Strategy and planning, service delivery and operations, and specific activity domains
3. The eGovernment value chain (Heeks, 2006): from readiness to impact;
4. Network readiness and e-government ranks: South Africa is respectively 52nd and 97th out of 184
Assessing eParticipationAssessing eParticipation
Healthyaverage
Best case
W orst caseUnhealthyaverage
Q uality of technology
Qua
lity
of p
artic
ipat
ion
H iLoLo
Hi
Healthyaverage
Best case
W orst caseUnhealthyaverage
Q uality of technology
Qua
lity
of p
artic
ipat
ion
H iLoLo
Hi
SX South Africa
Denmark, Netherland,
Norway X
X Sub-saharian African countries
Quality of eParticipationQuality of eParticipation
Better the democratic system (direct) and government (administrative, transactional, and inclusive efficiency)
Reduce the digital divide between the powerful (have) and the powerless (have not)
Community empowerment (Social capital)A better articulation of communities needs Increase accountability and transparencyFoster and better service deliveryUnfold development and sustainability (MDGs)
Role of eParticipationRole of eParticipation
Some issues of Some issues of eParticipationeParticipationIssue of effective use (Gurstein,
2003)Powerful will get more powerful
(Schuler Day, 2004)Design and implementation of
systems (Heeks, 2006)
ConclusionConclusioneParticipation is meant to be
better Public participation in government
eParticipation is an opportunity for a more inclusive and efficient public participation
Let dream of an African unleashed inner voice ... Did you ever hear the voice of Africa?
Laban Bagui [email protected]
Faculty of Informatics and DesignCape Peninsula University of TechnologyCape TownSouth Africa
Me Ti Be Ma Yega/ Merci / Thank you/ Danke Shön / Dankie / Ngosi
Questions?