Social Media and the Business of Local Government: Evidence From South Africa

Abstract

Local governments are at the forefront of public service delivery and can encourage democracy through open and transparent communication using social media. Officials must provide instant, correct, and reliable information and feedback in that regard. Local authorities however use social media but fail to utilise it effectively in Sub-Saharan Africa. Thus this study explores social media intricacies as a digital platform in enhancing public service delivery, access to information and critical engagement for effective participatory governance in a Municipality in South Africa. The study adopted a qualitative approach and a phenomenological strategy, collecting interview data from the local bureaucracy as well as focus group discussions with community leaders and members. The study found that the use of social media is underpinned by the Local Authority’s communication strategy, progressive but remains out of touch with reality, with glaring shortcomings leading to negative perceptions, thereby undermining public service delivery enhancements and effective participatory governance endeavours. Findings indicate that social media platforms can support transparency and critical engagement but the municipality’s communication strategies need to be first and foremost in touch with reality and utilise more current platforms which are experiencing rapid and intense surges in popularity and engagement. This will facilitate better positioning to build and/or counter eroding public trust and enhance transparency, thus necessitating a communication policy strategy and social media rethink in the post-truth era. This is pivotal in promoting local administrative ideals and for understanding and addressing community needs using aspects of social media that are most impactful for improving the local government’s service delivery as well as the lives of all constituencies for the better.