Abstract
Background: South African cities have been facing challenges since democratisation to meet the expectations of the citizens. The challenges have included fraud and corruption, financial constraints, lack of service delivery and technological progress, amongst others, which were underpinned by weak leadership and governance processes. This article explored eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality’s technological progress and identified that inefficiencies in good governance and the lack of a governance framework have limited digitalisation.Aim: The aim of this study was to assess the progress towards digitalisation and review the effectiveness of the governance processes within the eThekwini Municipality in contributing towards the fourth industrial revolution.Setting: The study was based on the processes at the eThekwini Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal province, South Africa.Methods: A qualitative research approach was used, and the study is exploratory in nature.Results: The study identified that there was limited digitalisation at eThekwini Municipality. Furthermore, governance processes and an overall governance framework were lacking within the municipality. There was also limited support from the national government to address the fourth industrial revolution at local government level.Conclusion: The implications of a lack of a strong public governance framework, and not being supported sufficiently by the national government, mean that the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality cannot compete internationally within the digital economy. The national government must co-ordinate a collaborated effort towards digitalisation, especially at municipal level. A multilevel governance framework, identifying collaboration between the various levels of government and the public, has been identified as the key response in embracing and enhancing the fourth industrial revolution within municipalities.
Highlights
Cities are the epicentre of technological advancement, and the advent of the fourth industrial revolution through digitalisation can either stimulate growth or impede the progress of local government operations
In 2018, the World Economic Forum (WEF) clarified that the dynamic changing force of the fourth industrial revolution necessitates a new form of governance to be in place, to address and oversee the interwoven complexities and impact of emerging technologies (WEF 2018:5)
The DPME identified that the problems experienced by ‘local governments’ include inefficient and ineffective municipal administration, condoning political interference, poor leadership, weak compliance, the inability of ‘local governments’ to respond to the complex demands and expectation of the citizens, a declining skills base to deal with socio-economic legacies and service delivery failures (RSA 2014:10)
Summary
Cities are the epicentre of technological advancement, and the advent of the fourth industrial revolution through digitalisation can either stimulate growth or impede the progress of local government operations. In 2018, the World Economic Forum (WEF) clarified that the dynamic changing force of the fourth industrial revolution necessitates a new form of governance to be in place, to address and oversee the interwoven complexities and impact of emerging technologies (WEF 2018:5). The WEF advocates for a new governance framework to address the manner in which the transformation of technologies, especially related to new corporate and personal opportunities created, impact on policy decision-making (WEF 2016:1). This article explored eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality’s technological progress and identified that inefficiencies in good governance and the lack of a governance framework have limited digitalisation
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