THE IMPACT OF DIGITAL DIVIDE ON DEMOCRACY AND GOVERNMENT OF SOUTH AFRICA

The digital divide can be seen as a condition that can be caused by the factors that can deprive certain citizens in a country. Some of these factors are race, age, class and geography. The purpose of this blog post is to discuss the impact of the digital divide on democracy and government of South Africa. According to (Mariscal, 2001) the digital divide refers to the gap between individuals, households, businesses and geographic areas at different socio-economic levels with regard to their opportunities to access information and communication technologies (ICTs) an to their use of the internet for a wide variety of activities The Digital Divide Network (2004) defines the concept as the gap between those who have access to communication tools, such as the Internet and those who cannot. This means that digital divide can be seen as the between citizens who can afford access to the internet and those who cannot afford it. According to (Walsh, 2004) E-democracy is defined by the use of electronic information and communications technologies (ICT) to extend or improve access to information and make possible participation in democratic communities, processes and institutions. This means to use the internet in order to avail information and get the citizens participate in democratic issues. E-government is the use of technology to improve the access to and delivery of government services to benefit citizens, business partners and employees. It has the power to create a new form of public service where all public organizations deliver a modernized, integrated and seamless service for their citizen (Silcock, 2001). The benefits of e-government can be to reduce cost in rendering services, allowing citizens to access the public sector information and improving the service delivery (Kumar & Best, 2006). Looking at South African statistics of internet usage, only 2 million of South Africans are actively using the internet. Amongst these users 1, 2 million have access from their homes, an estimated 500 000 households are connected and 300 000 people are connected through public facilities. The infrastructure and the necessary hardware and software required for universal access is not available to the majority of South Africans. De Villiers (2001, 88). This shortage of resources has an effect on the government and democracy of South Africa. Meaning the implementation of e-democracy and e-government is affected badly because of lack of resources/ poverty. If the majority of South African citizens do not have access to the internet, then they will not participate to the democratic communities and they will not access the public sectors information. For example when there is elections campaign that requires South African citizens to participate, on the internet, then they would be a small amount of participation. Or for example if there is information about the government, published on the internet, it will not reach a large amount of citizens. Therefore in conclusion, the gap between those who can afford and those who can’t afford in South Africa is huge. This is a disadvantage to the South African government and democracy.   Bibliography De Villiers, S. 2001. Foreground: In A People’s Government. Cape Town: IDASA Kumar, R & Best, M. 2006. Impact and sustainability of e-government services in developing countries. Talil Nadu: Information society. Mariscal, . 2005. Digital divide in developing country. Telecommunication Silcock, R. 2001. What is E-government. Available: http://catedras.fsoc.uba.ar/rusailh/unidad%202/Silcock%202001,%20what%is20is%20E-gov.pdf [accessed 21 April 2013] Walsh, L. 2004. What is E-democracy: an introduction. Available: http://www.dev.internet-thinking.com.au/anzca-walsh.pdf. [Accessed 21april 2013]