District and local municipality Web sites generally lack adequate management and valuable content, according to research firm ForgeAhead.
A lack of aesthetic quality and search functionality, as well as clumsy navigability and slow download speeds are due to budget constraints experienced by some district municipalities, says ForgeAhead research head, Adrian Schofield.
"The access to technology and number of people that may use a Web site is limited," he says. "Many of the municipalities that don`t have a Web site are not interested in doing so because they believe it won`t benefit most of their surrounding communities. However, the trend is shifting toward the development of Web sites aimed at creating provincial gateways and portals."
"E-government is a term than describes many activities related to the use of ICT to enable and provide citizens with a service," says Schofield. "This includes developing Web sites, portals, public information terminals and multipurpose community centres."
Local governments that do have Web sites use them to serve as a central point of contact for their citizens, to support e-government initiatives, and to make it easier for residents and businesses to access municipal information. Services include account information, licence applications, traffic reports, publicising projects and tenders, and the provision of direct contact numbers of councillors and emergency services.
ForgeAhead conducts annual ICT in government research on SA municipalities, which includes research on the use of ICT by local government. The 2005 research findings indicate that most municipalities lack IT skills and have no proper integrated IT infrastructure.
Research shows that municipal Web site budgets are based on the ICT status of the municipality or district. Those with a formal ICT function are budgeted for as a project within the ICT budget, while those without a formal ICT function are assisted by the State Information Technology Agency (SITA) and the Development Bank, says Schofield.
Some better than others
For some of the municipalities, the development of a Web site is included in an outsourced service contract with a service provider.
Schofield says that in their research, no respondent indicated that the downtime of a municipal Web site caused any problems. "Those with adequate resources and suitable management will have back-ups and alternate servers in place," he adds.
The metropolitan municipalities, which represent South Africa`s major cities, include Johannesburg, eThekwini, Tshwane, Ekhurhuleni, Cape Town, and the Nelson Mandela Metropole. Generally speaking, the metropolitan Web sites offer better quality all round than their provincial counterparts.
Some of district and local municipalities Web sites avalable to the public include the Mangaung, Msundunzi, Mogale City, Buffalo City, Zululand, Uthungulu, Swartland, Stellenbosch, and Ilembe Web sites. The SA Cities Web site offers a link to the different municipal sites, and sources stories from them. It offers information on population figures, the size of a municipal area, budget details and contact information on councillor representatives.
Keeping up to date
Irwin Manoim, Big Media Publishers editorial director and founding member of the Mail & Guardian Online, is responsible for creating Web sites for the Johannesburg, Buffalo City, Ekurhuleni and Mogale City. Big Media caters not only for national government clients, but also maintains the content and design for the SA official gateway Web site. In 2006, the company will be responsible for the Web site of the Cape Town municipality as well.
Manoim says that municipal Web site designers generally focus strongly on the audience profile, and on the message that needs to be conveyed.
"Although Big Media does public information Web sites, we don`t do e-services Web sites. E-services have to mesh with the back-end systems of the municipality, and are therefore usually done in-house or by the main IT contractor. South Africa is still some way behind the rest of the world when it comes to government e-services - very few municipalities offer them at more than a basic level."
He says that municipal Web sites should include information that describes the location historically and geographically, highlights the various events taking place, and spotlights the various initiatives the area has in place to encourage investment.
"They should also offer residents advice on how to access city services, and who to contact with queries. A library of the city`s official documents is also a useful tool for users. The bigger sites have a team of journalists who conduct proper online reporting, including research and updating of Web pages."
When it comes to service information Web sites, Manoim says that these fall out of date quickly. "A good service Web site is constantly being updated," he says. "This should be done by writing news articles daily, and by reworking public information pages."
Manoim points out that the creation of Web sites has changed from being the responsibility of the IT departments to that of the marketing and communication departments. This is a clear indication of the role a comprehensive and well-constructed Web site can play in forwarding the ideals of effective e-government.
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