E-Governance and Participatory Civil Engagement in Local Government: The Case of the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality (NMBM)

Abstract

This study is a qualitative investigation of the contemporary practice of electronic citizen engagement in governance (e-governance). Semi-structured interviews and document analysis were the data collection techniques utilized. The study builds on the concept of the Public Sphere (Habermas, 1979), and the Participatory Communication concept to examine the nature of participation that e-governance had brought in the South African local government arena with the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality (NMBM) as the case study. The findings were that the municipality's website (where the interactions took place) was being utilized more as an information dissemination tool as compared to a deliberative platform that was envisaged by Habermas. The analysis identified lack of a properly articulated Internet strategy to direct e-governance within the municipality.