Productividad por hectárea y rentabilidad del cultivo de tomate rojo

Studies on e-Government in South Africa have also been extensive. Majority of research conducted in this field tends to place focus on how the South African government is perusing policy towards e-Government and on the notion of ‘e- readiness’. Such studies are also inclined to rank e-Government services in South Africa with other countries around the world. Although such studies play a crucial role in academia, there is a lack of detail into how effective the penetration has been and why penetration stands at where it is (Farelo and Morris (2006); Palvia and Sharma (2007)). Davenport (2007) states that studies on e-Government has become an fundamental aspect of new media studies. Furthermore, e-Government studies in South African have also arisen due the fact that ICTs are becoming an increasingly integral aspect of the South African government’s public service delivery programme. This is evident by the billions of Rands which have been invested in the sector as well as governments continuous drive to discover and adopt new technologies that can align public service delivery with policy outcome.

Palvia and Sharma (2007: 1) claim that there are many definitions to what e- Government actually entails. Some definitions are often conflicting and inconclusive. However, Palvia and Sharma (2007: 1) state that the best definition has been given by the World Bank which states that:

“e-Government refers to the use by government agencies of information technologies (such as Wide Area Networks, the Internet, and mobile computing) that have the ability to transform relations with citizens, businesses, and other arms of government. These technologies can serve a variety of different ends: better delivery of government services to citizens, improved interactions with business and industry, citizen empowerment

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through access to information, or more efficient government management. The resulting benefits can be less corruption, increased transparency, greater convenience, revenue growth, and/or cost reductions.”

Fang (2002: 3) defines e-Government as : Government activities that take place over electronic communications among all levels of government, citizens, and the business community, including: acquiring and providing products and services; placing and receiving orders; providing and obtaining information; and completing financial transactions. Such activities and services benefit citizens through the use of new media technologies, most particularly through web-based communication (Fang 2002: 2). Gartner (2000) definition suggests that e-Government is the continuous optimisation of service delivery, constituency participation and governance by transforming internal and external relationships through technology, the Internet and other new media forms. Panganiban (2004: 7) suggests that e-Government is the use of information and communication technologies to transform government by making it more accessible, effective and accountable.

Fang (2002: 5) and Panganiban (2004: 7) both distinguish between the concept of ‘e- Governance’ and ‘e-Government’. The notion behind e-Governance goes beyond the scope of e-Government. While e-Government is defined as a mere delivery of government services and information to the public using electronic means, e- Governance allows citizen direct participation of constituents in political activities going beyond government and includes e-Democracy, e-Voting, and participating in political activities online. Broadly speaking, e-Governance will cover government, citizen participation, political parties and organisations, parliament and judiciary functions. Thus Fang (2002: 5) and Panganiban (2004: 7) both argue that e- Government is concerned with delivery of governmental services and information that is not that different from traditional systems found offline whilst e-Governance is more concerned with citizen participation and e-Democracy. It must be understood that although e-Governance can strengthen the democratic process, e-Government can as well through access to information and services that were once difficult to find.

29 Harris (2000) offers one of the strongest summaries of what e-Governance is and entails by suggesting that:

e-Governance is not just about government web site and e-mail. It is not just about service delivery over the Internet. It is not just about digital access to government information or electronic payments. It will change how citizens relate to governments as much as it changes how citizens relate to each other. It will bring forth new concepts of citizenship, both in terms of needs and responsibilities. e-Governance will allow citizens to communicate with government, participate in the governments' policy-making and citizens to communicate each other and to participate in the democratic political process. Therefore, in broadest sense, e-Governance has more implications than e-Government.

Although e-Governance is more concerned with e-Democracy and strengthening democratisation, many believe the e-Government performs a similar function as well. Netchaeva (2002: 469) states that e-Government does not necessarily mean democracy. e-Government portals perform two main functions: to help the population in their everyday life (online services) and provide citizen participation in the democratic process. On the one hand, e-Government is an instrument for better governance and for improving communication between government, business and citizens. On the other hand, some specialists think that IT use in governance may intrinsically change relationships in society, help to achieve real democratic means and even transform people’s social and political consciousness (Netchaeva 2002: 469). Westen (2001: 3) supports this above notion by arguing that new communications technology (such as ICTs) will not just affect democracy; it will transform it. This is because democracy is an interactive form of government, the revolution in interactive communications will inevitably have its greatest effect on the most important ‘interactive institution’: government itself.

The rollout of an extensive e-Government program with the aid of the Internet can provide citizens living outside major cities and towns the potential to access government services without having to travel large distances. Applying for social

30 grants and pensions and receiving them electronically as well as applying for birth and marriage certificates online can reduce costs for the citizen in terms of transport costs and time wasted in long queues at government departments (Chilwane 2007). Chilwane (2007) adds that ICTs linked to government services alone does not produce e-Government: new technologies must be implemented hand in hand with organisational change and skills development. The role-out of Internet and telecommunication infrastructure is essential for e-Government to become a reality for every citizen. Although affordable access to the Internet is crucial for an e- Government strategy to be effective, communities in rural areas and those unable to afford the high costs of Internet access will not have the means to access such services, thus if Internet diffusion continues to be low, e-Government will merely broaden the gap between the information-haves and the information have-nots.