The digitalisation of social protection aims to improve service access and efficiency through online applications, notifications, and payments. Within this global trend, South Africa occupies a unique position in Africa with its legacy government-driven social protection system, contrasting with donor-driven models in many other countries. Managed by the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA), seven social security grants are administered, including the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic and now extended.
While the SRD grant represents the most comprehensive digital implementation, all social grants now incorporate digital elements across their delivery chains, particularly in payment systems. We recognise that digitalisation aims to enhance service efficiency and accessibility, though implementation has presented various challenges for stakeholders. As digitalisation continues, establishing effective evidence-based pathways for citizen engagement becomes crucial to ensure social protection systems remain responsive to beneficiaries’ needs and rights.
This research study aims to understand the nature of enablers and challenges of citizen participation and social accountability mechanisms throughout the digitalisation of social protection in South Africa. Furthermore, it seeks to explore how responsible digital citizen participation can be designed to facilitate citizen-state interfaces that enable social accountability monitoring of the digitalisation of social protection programmes.
Responsible technology requires a pluralistic approach that considers the diverse perspectives, worldviews, and “situatedness” of all stakeholders, including technologists, government officials, policymakers, civil society, activists, and most crucially, the communities and citizens impacted by social protection digitalisation and/or a civic tech initiative. It involves understanding and accounting for these pluralistic viewpoints, ethical concerns, and intercultural nuances throughout the development and deployment process to mitigate unintended or intended consequences and ensure the technology is responsive to the rights, needs and contexts of diverse user communities.
The study is implemented by the Institute of Development Studies in collaboration with Rhodes University, IIE’s Varsity College, Black Sash, and OpenUp in South Africa. The Project Lead is Caroline Khene.
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