Assessing the e-readiness of the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) regional office Western Cape and its customers

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: e-Governance refers to the utilisation of technology to improve on service delivery, sharing of information, client participation as well as to advance government through the transformation of its internal and external relationships (Shilubane, 2001:40).e-Governance further implies that government disseminates information and renders services to the public through 'electronic means (Manohar, Pulapa and Mellam, 2009:243). On the other hand, e-government is not entirely about electronic service delivery, but part of the continuous restructuring of government to ensure participation from its partners for improved efficacy and success. Therefore e-government is participatory in nature when implemented correctly. This study assesses and evaluates the current infrastructure and current e-initiatives of the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) Regional Office Western Cape and the extent to which the agency and its customers are ready to adopt e-government.The e-Governance Road Map (ERM) developed by Ernst & Young India for the New Delhi government was used to guide the researcher to assess the level of e-readiness of the SASSA Regional Office Western Cape. The Information and Communication Technology manager and customer care manager of the SASSA Regional Office Western Cape were interviewed and the beneficiaries of SASSA were requested to participate in the completion of questionnaires. The study found that the customers of SASSA were not as interested in electronic services as in mobile services such as reminders and notifications through short message service (SMS). There are, however, several impediments at SASSA such as an adoption of e-government and m-government, low budget for information and communication technology (ICT) as well as to conduct research among a larger group of SASSA customers. The study mainly recommends that the SASSA Regional Office Western Cape conduct a research study on a larger scale than this research study and to determine the needs of customers in respect of e-services and m-services. Should the agency decide to conduct an e-readiness assessment, the National e-Government Plan (NeGP) of India could be a useful guideline for the implementation of e-governance. The research study strongly recommends that SASSA develops a capacity-building roadmap for the successful implementation of e-governance.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University