Empowering Communities and Improving Public Services Through Open Data: South African Local Government Perspective

The concept of open data has rapidly permeated the design and implementation of local government systems. Coupled with appropriate requisite and appropriate Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), public services are delivered on open platforms and domains further opening up transparency and accountability. Embedded on Open Government Data and e-government, South Africa is pushing to mitigate corruption and inefficiency in its public delivery platforms, especially at the local government levels. Using extensive literature review exploring both scholarly sources, policy and strategy documents from both the public and private sector, this chapter aims to provide a deeper understanding of the role of open data by local municipalities in South Africa. It will briefly discuss the importance of open data to local government in order to benefit its community especially in the realm of contemporary public governance models, discuss ways of promoting citizen participation, and, most importantly, offer necessary aspects for municipal officials to consider before formalising transparency policies. It is intended to help local government officials take first steps in creating municipal transparency and openness policies.