The e-service delivery in South Africa and the contribution of research institutions such as the CSIR-Meraka Institute

Most South African citizens are confronted daily with problems of accessing basic public services. With the mandate of carrying out research and development intended to improve lives of ordinary South Africans the role of research institutions such as the CSIR´s Meraka is important. This allows these research and development organisations to be reliable partners to Governments in their endeavour to provide quality service delivery as proposed by the Batho Pele (People First) principle. The aim of this paper is to use Meraka Institute as a case study to portray potential benefits Government can derive by partnering with R&D institutions in the delivery of services. These R&D institutions can provide solutions on the different service delivery challenges. The methods section describes the overall evaluation design and data collection strategies employed in this study, which are based on the design-based-research as a set of analytical techniques intended to bridge theory and practice. The study is based on personal feedback from Meraka´s researchers and by carrying out desktop study on the contribution and potential contribution to e-service delivery. The results show that it is the focal point of Meraka´s ICT R&D agenda to contribute to delivery of services by government and its agencies for the benefit of all citizens.