Cape Gateway,
Presentation of results,
Prepared for Knowledge Economy and E-government, 16 April

Background and research objectives
Background Objectives
 Knowledge Economy & E-Government
(KEEG) are customer centric and aim to understand the perceptions, wants and needs of customers to the Western Cape
Provincial Government

In line with this view the KEEG who were up at the Klein Karoo National
Kunstefees (KKNK) in Oudtshoorn representing the Western Cape
Provincial Government took this as an opportunity to get feedback from customers at the festival
 A shorter, simpler version of the study was conducted last year, and was previously run by Client’s own staff
 The focus of the study was to gain measures on knowledge about Western
Cape Provincial Government services and information available on services
 Usage experiences
 What information they would like to have access to
 What channels to access information
 The study was conducted at the KKNK and was not a true representative survey that necessary reflects the entire provinces viewpoint but provides Client with useful insight and adds value with regards to their Cape Gateway Project

Research approach
Quantitative Research
 In-person interviewing – although respondents had the opportunity to fill in the survey themselves, some face-to-face interviews were conducted where language was a problem, as all questionnaires were in English
 Results are definitive
 Data was captured by Research Surveys’ Data Processing unit
 The Knowledge Economy and E-Government conducted the interviews
 The questionnaire was designed in conjunction with Client ,
Sample
 Attendees to the KKNK and locals from Oudtshoorn who walked past the Knowledge
Economy and E-Government stand which was part of an exhibition by the Western
Cape Provincial Government, and agreed to participate
 All respondents were from the Western Cape
 A mix of rural and metropolitan respondents were interviewed
 Some of the local Oudtshoorn residents were of a lower economic status than the average visitor to the festival
 A total sample of 270 completed interviews was conducted

% 100
80
60
40
20
0
7
Under 18
17
18-25
An even spread of ages and gender were interviewed
Gender
45%
55%
26
17
26-35
Total (n=270)
Age
36-45
24
46-60
Male Female
8
Over 60

The majority were Afrikaans and half the sample had no tertiary education
Language
9%
11%
80%
%
100
80
60
40
20
0
52
High School
Afrikaans English Xhosa
17
Some tertiary eductation
15
11
Tertiary education completed
Total (n=270)
Education
Post graduate degree
4
Other qualification

The majority of the Black and Coloured people were local residents
Race
%
100
11%
47%
42%
80
60
40
42
White Coloured Black
84% of the total Black and
Coloured people were local residents and of a lower economic status
21
20
16
9 8
0
Central Karoo City of Cape
Town
Eden West Coast Boland
Total (n=270)
Area
79% of the sample were from Western Cape Rural areas
4
Overberg

The sample in summary
Mostly Afrikaans-speaking citizens from the Western Cape Rural areas
 Equal spread of ages
 Equal gender split
 Most were not educated beyond high school
 The majority of the Black and Coloured people were local residents
 Just under half the sample were white

Telecommunication, IT and Internet usage
Communication channels Computer and Internet access
Telephone
Internet
Library in your area
Cell phone
Other 2
None 2
71
76
74
80
0 20 40 60 80
Total sample (n=270)
Telephone, Internet and cell phone usage skews towards metropolitan and Eden residents
100
%
At home
Community center, library, Internet
Café
At work
Tertiary institution
Other
1
1
None
16
24
20 0
Computer (n=270)
20
26
47
28
44
32
34
42
Skews towards Central
40
Karoo local residents
60 80
Internet (n=270)
100
%
High claims to Internet access with 32% having access via a public place, such as a library. Although many have access to local libraries and community centers, it is not clear whether they actually access the Internet at these places.

50% have Internet access at home or at work
Although 76% claim to have Internet access only 50% have their own Internet access Public vs Private Internet access only
• People who access the Internet at a public place are likely to access less frequently and as a result are very unlikely to be interested in products, services or information provided via the Internet
PRIVATE ACCESS
SKEWS TO:
• White
• City of Cape Town
• Degree completed
• Own a cell phone
LIBRARY ACCESS
SKEWS TO:
• Coloured
• Central Karoo
• 18-25 years
• High School complete
24%
26%
50%
Private access (home or work)
Public access (tertiary institutions or library)
No Internet access

40
20
0
%
100
24% claim to be aware of what Government information is available to the public
And the information that they are aware of includes
80
60
26
Health
14
Social
Services
12 12
9 8
Tourism Local
Government
Housing
Aware of services (n=66)
Education
6
Sport
6 6
Agriculture Safety and
Security
Spontaneous awareness of Information that is available from the Provincial Government
Only mentions by more than 5% are shown here
Coloureds tended to be more aware of information about services

39% claim to know about Western Cape Government initiatives providing information about services
And many of these claimed to be aware of Cape Gateway. However, most only became aware of Cape Gateway at the festival
%
100
80
60
40
20
0
37
Cape Gateway
14
12
Cape Online Knowledge Economy and
E-Government
Total (n=270)
3
Other
47
None of the above

Mostly traditional mediums were preferred for being informed about Government initiatives
- Internet had limited appeal
Newspapers, magazines, posters
TV adverts
Radio adverts
Municipal/ local govt material
Email
Government events
Word of mouth
Internet
Walk in centre
SMS
Other
Don't know
0
59
49
34
39
2
3
8
12
17
16
12
20
Of those who have access to the Internet privately, 36% chose email as their channel of preference, compared to only 6% who have access to the Internet via a public place
Of those who have access to the
Internet privately, 23% chose the
Internet as their channel of preference, compared to only 1% who have access to the Internet via a public place
20 40 60 80 100 %
Total sample (n=270)

19% have accessed Government information before
Type of information that has been accessed includes
Housing
Law
10
10
Health 8
8 Local Government
Home Affairs 6
Sport 6
0 10 20 30 40
Those who have accessed Government information before (n=52)
50 %

Of all Government information available, tourism was the most popular to access
However, the skew towards tourism could be as a result of people being on holiday in a holiday mood
Tourism 46
Skews strongly towards the visitors to the festival, rather than the local people
Education 46
Community safety
Health 38
Sport
Economic Development
0
26
10 20
Government information preference
30
33
40
40
50 %

%
100
80
60
40
Telephone is the preferred channel for communicating with Government
66% of the local people from the central Karoo chose the telephone
Only 38% of private
Internet users chose the telephone
50
52% from the City of
Cape Town were interested
However, only 30% of people from the
Boland, Overberg and West Coast had interest in a walk-incentre
50% of private
Internet users preferred this channel
Compared to only
13% of public
Internet users
47% of people from the Boland, City of
Cape Town,
Overberg and West
Coast favoured the
Internet
41
29
20
3
0
Telephone Walk in centre
Total (n=270)
The Internet Other
Although the telephone is the channel with the broadest appeal, different people are attracted to different channels. Private Internet users and people living far from the city prefer the Internet. The poorer more middle class people from the Central Karoo prefer the telephone and some of the people living in the City would like to use a walk –in-centre.
Therefore a multi-channel strategy is the most appropriate.

Approximately half would expect a call centre to operate during normal business hours and half expect it to operate for longer hours
%
100
80
60
40
20
0
47
Regular office hours
30
19
24 by seven
Total (n=270)
Weekly up to 21h00 and weekends up to 13h00
3
Don't know

Importance of having access to and likelihood of accessing Government information
Importance of having access Likelihood of accessing
Extremely important (10)
46
Very likely (10) 59
Very important
(7.5)
41
Moderately important (5)
Slightly important
(2.5)
2
11
Coloureds and Blacks placed more value on the importance of having access to Government information than Whites
Not at all important
(n=0)
0
0 20 40 60
Total sample (n=270)
80
The average score for importance is 8.3 out of 10
100
%
Somewhat likely
(7.5)
Neither likely nor unlikely (5)
Somewhat unlikely
(2.5)
5
5
Not at all likely (0) 3
Don't know
0
7
21
Skews towards Central
Karoo local residents and people who have accessed Government information before
20 40 60
Total sample (n=270)
80 100
%
The average score for likelihood of accessing is 7.8 out of 10
Most people feel it is important to have access to Government information; more than half feel they are likely to access it

(n=270)
Used
Government service before?
Experience with Government services
(n=66)
Satisfaction with service?
Average =
6.3/10
(n=12) Caution: Small base
Reason for service being unsatisfactory
Yes
24%
Yes: 8/9/10 out of 10
26%
• Report back or follow-up is slow (n=4)
• Service is slow (n=3)
• Service is poor (n=3)
No
76%
No: 1/2/3/4 out of 10
18%
• Don’t answer phone
(n=2)
• Bad communication skills by staff (n=3)
Very few people have had any experience with the Western Cape Provincial
Government and for most of those that have, it has not been very satisfactory

The findings in summary
Low usage and awareness of Government Services

Only a quarter claim to be aware of Government information that is available to the public
 19% have accessed Government information before
 Different groups of people have different preferences for channels to access
Government information – therefore a multi-channel strategy is most appropriate
 76% claim to have access to the Internet
 But only 50% have access at home or at work (private access). These people have some interest in using the Internet to gain Government information
 The other 26% have access through a public venue (not from home or work).
These people have very little interest in using the Internet to gain Government information
 The Internet is more effective as a medium for people to search for information than as a medium to inform people of initiatives
 Most felt it is important to have access to Government information and more than half felt they were likely to access it in the future at some stage
 A quarter have dealt with Provincial Government previously and felt the service was below average satisfaction, with a score of 6.3 out of 10 on average

Address:
6 Thicket Street
Newlands
7700
Contact Numbers :
Tel: (+27 21) 657 9647/9
Fax: (+27 21) 657 9501
Email: sandra@webchek.co.za
Email: karin@webchek.co.za
Contact details