By Olerato Carol Manyaapelo
The world is fast moving towards the use of 4IR technological advances. This implies that the local sphere of government should make us aware of the opportunities that come with the Fourth Industrial Revolution to implement Integrated Development Plans (IDPs) which are currently in place in municipalities. Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies have the potential to revolutionise the way governments operate and interact with communities.
The use of 4IR technologies in South Africa’s local government will improve the effectiveness and efficiency of policy implementation. Artificial intelligence and machine learning can also be used to identify areas which have waste and inefficiency, allowing local governments to allocate resources more efficiently in municipalities. Moreover, 4IR technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT) can be used to monitor the progress of projects and ensure that they are completed on time and within budget.
This will limit corruption and tender fraud in municipalities.
The majority of South Africa’s municipalities are underperforming thanks to corruption, tender fraud and not having systems in place to monitor the progress of projects within municipalities. The use of 4IR technologies will not only eliminate corruption and help municipalities to implement the IDPs effectively, it will help local government to engage citizens better. When I was doing my Master’s in 2022, I had a conversation with one of the Ekurhuleni Youth Directorate leaders because I wanted to understand why it seemed like young people in local municipalities did not understand and know about their municipal Integrated Development Plan (IPDs) meetings. He explained his frustrations to me as a youth leader on the participation of youth and Ekurhuleni community members on IDP meetings.
He further explained that the youth of Ekurhuleni never participate in any municipal projects unless they are promised employment or food parcels. Therefore, the use of 4IR technologies will help public servants to engage their communities faster and better by making the IDPs meetings schedule easily accessible through the use of social media and other digital platforms. Local governments can reach out to citizens and solicit their input on the implementation of the IDPs. Moreover, 4IR technologies can be used to collect data from citizens to better understand their needs and preferences. This data can then be used to inform the implementation of the IDPs in municipalities. 4IR technology can also be used to track service delivery in local government. The tracking of service delivery will help municipal stakeholders to know what they are doing wrong and which office within municipalities is not delivering services with the budgets they received from the National Treasury.
Technology can be used to improve the transparency of the monitoring and evaluation system, upon which the implementation of the IDP heavily depends. The use of sensors and drones can provide real-time data that can be used to monitor the progress of the IDPs and service delivery in local government. This data can then be used in local government to analyse the effectiveness of the IDP and make changes where necessary to ensure that there is proper policy implementation. The use of 4IR technologies will improve the transparency of the monitoring and evaluation system and IDPs. The use of blockchain technology can help local government to ensure that data is secure and immutable, allowing for greater trust in the system. Furthermore, the use of online dashboards and visualisations can help to make the monitoring and evaluation system more user-friendly and accessible to all stakeholders. The use of 4IR technologies will reduce the amount of time and resources needed to monitor the progress of the IDPs in municipalities. This can help to ensure that the IDPs are implemented in a timely and cost-efficient manner.
Such technologies have the potential to revolutionise the way South African local government operates. By utilising 4IR technologies, local governments can become more efficient and effective in the implementation of the IDP. Technology can be used to engage with citizens and better understand their needs and preferences.
Ultimately, the use of 4IR technologies can help South African local government provide better services to its citizens. Therefore, local government leaders should consider investing in educating local stakeholders about the use of 4IR technologies. The challenge of having public servants who are not technologically advanced should be a thing of the past.
* Olerato Manyaapelo is a Junior Researcher at the UJ Institute of Pan-African Thought and Conversation.
** The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of Independent Media or IOL.