South African E-Government Policy and Practices: A Framework to Close the Gap1

Abstract. E-government in South Africa has a particularly important historical and social context due to the legacy of apartheid. As a result, a ten year e-government implementation horizon has been created from tested world wide practices. Thus far the plan is not being realised and a gap is appearing between what the policy says should be happening and what is actually happening. This gap is most likely a result of a lack of government capacity to meet the policy objectives. In this paper the author puts forward a framework – drawing on actor network theory (ANT) and the due process model – which aims to improve the current e-government implementation process and close the gap between policy and practices in South Africa.