| Abstrakt: |
Efforts to integrate information and communication technologies (ICTs) by municipalities in developing countries to improve access to information, service delivery, promote citizen participation and engagement is worth pursuing. This research sought to evaluate 41 Southern African Development Community (SADC) cities' websites to determine the e-government level each municipality had attained regarding information flow, transactional processing, and website usability. During a two-month observation period of the selected 41 cities, eight cities did not have websites, 11 were not available, leaving 22 websites for evaluation. The evaluation was based on a heuristic assessment matrix we developed based on information maturity level and usability. The results revealed that most municipality websites excelled in one-way information flow and two-way interaction while lacking advanced levels. Overall, cities in South Africa ranked highly in terms of evaluations. The results appeal to governments to develop policies that stimulate e-government initiatives. |
