COVID-19 and E-Governance: Lessons from South Africa

The document examines how the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the adoption of e-governance tools, specifically social media and smartphones, to maintain public service delivery. It highlights South Africa's use of WhatsApp chatbots and the 'COVID Alert SA' contact tracing app as innovative examples, while noting that the 'digital divide' and concerns over surveillance and fake news remain significant barriers to digital governance across Africa.

• The COVID-19 pandemic triggered a 'COVID-19-induced digital acceleration' in e-government because public service delivery could not be suspended during lockdowns.
• While governments globally have increased their use of social media, the application has largely remained traditional and has not been particularly innovative in transforming policy-making or service delivery.
• Social media can serve as a critical tool for 'epidemic intelligence' by detecting disease outbreaks through informal sources before they appear in formal hospital records.
• South Africa implemented several digital innovations during the pandemic, including a WhatsApp chatbot developed by Praekelt.org for the Department of Health and the 'COVID Alert SA' smartphone app for digital contact tracing launched in September 2020.
• Despite its innovations, South Africa faces a significant digital divide; as of January 2020, internet penetration was 62% and social media penetration was only 37%.
• The effectiveness of e-governance in Africa is hindered by government-led internet shutdowns, with the number of such shutdowns increasing by 47% between 2018 and 2019, and Chad recording a shutdown lasting 472 days.
• The spread of fake news is a major challenge for governments, and while social media companies can assist through content policies, there is currently a shortage of vetted third-party fact-checkers affiliated with the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN).

APA

BOSMAN, I. (2021). COVID-19 and E-Governance: Lessons from South Africa. South African Institute of International Affairs. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Policy-Insights-100-bosman.pdf

Chicago

BOSMAN, ISABEL. COVID-19 and E-Governance: Lessons from South Africa. South African Institute of International Affairs, 2021. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Policy-Insights-100-bosman.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=BOSMAN |first1=ISABEL |title=COVID-19 and E-Governance: Lessons from South Africa |publisher=South African Institute of International Affairs |date=February 2021 |url=https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Policy-Insights-100-bosman.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{bosman2021covid19, author = {BOSMAN, ISABEL}, title = {{COVID-19 and E-Governance: Lessons from South Africa}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2021}, month = feb, url = {https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Policy-Insights-100-bosman.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }