Abstract

E-government is a technological reform in the traditional public service delivery as it provides more customer-oriented approach. The citizen participation is enhanced to raise the issues of transparency and accountability through reformative techniques of “digital governance”. E-government applications are useful to combat corruption and increase service delivery that is reflected in reports from developing countries. Practical examples of these applications are budget disclosure in Argentina and India, E-procurement in Chile, OPEN in Korea, School performance in UK, etc. The resulting benefits are exposure of corruption and bribery, citizen empowerment and participation, enhanced accountability, etc. In South Africa, the Department of Public Service and Administration, through its Future Watch Programme “From Red Tape to Smart Tape: Easing the Administrative Burden of Public Service Delivery”, e-government projects like Gateway portal, one-stop shops, etc., can enhance service delivery and reduce red tape. Through these projects citizens can interact with the government without any timely restriction. The paper addresses these South African e-government initiatives using descriptive and analytical approach, focusing on case studies, documents and scholarly literature. The advancement in e-government approach is known as ubiquitous government (u-government) that is a new technological reform based on the wireless technologies. The findings explore that electronic innovations help create dialogue between the government and the governed in order to combat corruption and enhance service delivery.