ABSTRACT
This study investigated measures to improve water and sanitation delivery in South African local municipalities. The qualitative research approach and exploratory research design were selected for this study. Thirty (30) participants were selected to participate in this study through online and telephonic interviews due to COVID-19 pandemic. Atlas-ti software (version 8.2) was used to analyse data collected from the participants. Themes and categories emerged from the study and were discussed adequately by corroborating it with the literature review outcomes to find solutions to the study. Major findings disclosed that some local municipalities in the North West province do not provide adequate water and sanitation delivery to the residents due to issues related to budget implementation plans, limited supply of water resources, lack of personnel training, the poor state of infrastructure, poor implementation of legislative frameworks, financial management issues, inability to update service development plans, lack of skills, and strategic leadership issues. The study recommended that municipal employees should collaborate with residents, conduct awareness campaigns, promote emerging innovation options and communication dynamics, install leak monitoring and detection sensory machines, ensure effective infrastructural maintenance culture, apply service legislation and promote effective strategic/financial management in an endeavour to enhance water and sanitation delivery in the municipalities.
ABSTRACT
The world has been in the grip of the Covid-19 pandemic since 2019. The Rwandan Government failed to establish e-government infrastructure to provide e-education during the lockdown (a.k.a Guma mu Rugo or Stay home), resulting in all children having to repeat the academic level they were in when the lockdown started in March 2020. The problems in Rwanda's education during Covid-19 are partly attributed to the government's ICT (a.k.a ikorana buhanga in Kinyarwanda) platform which does not prioritise e-education services, government's inability to provide infrastructures for e-government, and the lack of ICT equipment and skills. Research on the aspects of e-government and e-education in Rwanda is limited. Knowledge is scarce about what happened to public education in Rwanda during the lockdown. This study aimed to explore the effects of the lockdown on Rwanda's public education and how e-education could have helped provide public education. A desktop research method, involving collecting data from existing sources on e-government and the state of public education in Rwanda during Covid-19, was conducted. The results show that the lockdown has negatively affected public education because the country failed to provide e-education services. To address the impact of the Covid-19 lockdown and possible future lockdowns, the Government of Rwanda must establish an e-government infrastructure that provides e-education. It will also need to establish affordable infrastructure in rural areas where it does not exist.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Child , Communicable Disease Control , Developing Countries , Government , Humans , Pandemics/prevention & control , Program Evaluation , RwandaABSTRACT
The public participation process is deemed essential as it enhances partnerships between the government and citizens during the decision-making process. This study perused the meaning and merits of public participation, and how democracy could be enhanced through the public participation process during COVID-19 pandemic. The Democratic Decision-Making Theory and the Technological Acceptance Model underpinned the study. These theories highlighted the need to include the citizens in the decision-making process and the relevance of the South African government to support and educate the public on the usefulness of adopting information science to achieve effective governance, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. A qualitative study was applied in this study and data were collected from secondary sources such as articles, government legislation, textbooks, and the Internet. Major findings depict that public participation involves a process by which the parliament and provincial legislatures refer to the citizens, individuals, government entities, and concerned organisations in the decision-making process to achieve good governance. The public participation process establishes partnerships and relationships, promotes addressing the needs of the citizens, and enhances the collective decision-making process. It was discovered that numerous communication dynamics could be used to enhance public participation process during the COVID-19 pandemic. Studies from several scholars further revealed that electronic media is the most effective communication dynamics to be applied in the public participation process during the COVID-19 pandemic and these include Short Message Service (SMS), WhatsApp group messages, Facebook messages, Electronic mail (e-mail), and Zoom virtual presentations. The study recommends that the South African government should apply a mix of these electronic media options in the public participation process to enhance democracy during the COVID-19 pandemic.