Challenges of eGovernment Project Implementation in a South African Context

Abstract

The growing adoption of eGovernment by countries worldwide is a testimony to its role as an effective tool for public service delivery. In South Africa, it has been adopted as one of the cornerstones of the government’s strategy for making services accessible to its citizens. Consequently, various national, provincial and local government eGovernment initiatives have been implemented. The Western Cape provincial initiative is, to date, one of the flagships. The province is home to numerous government sanctioned projects at varying degrees of completion. The purpose of this exploratory research was to identify some of the factors which inhibit the successful implementation of eGovernment in the Western Cape, South Africa. Using analysis techniques derived from Grounded Theory Methodology, we show that leadership, project fragmentation, perceived value of Information Technology, citizen inclusion and task co‑ordination are among the key inhibitors of eGovernment success in the Western Cape Province. The relationships between the constraints to successful eGovernment implementation are also elucidated. We also point to further areas of study that can illuminate the key concerns within eGovernment discourse.