The South African study provides analytical insights into an Information & Communication
Technology (ICT) micro-level initiative, namely the ‘Empowering Street Traders through Urban
Disaster Risk Management’ project. Implemented in eThekwini municipality, Durban, South Africa,
this project explores ICT-mediated citizen engagement strategies for enhancing government
accountability in public service delivery. More specifically, this initiative makes provisions for
training and collective organizing with the intention to equip street traders with digital evidence to
support their demands for a healthy, sanitary and safe work environment.
Greater ICT availability in South Africa suggests a growing possibility for citizens to use mobile
phones and Internet to hold government accountable. However, there is a paucity of literature that
maps ICT-mediated engagement initiatives within marginalized sub-populations. This study
attempts to explore this gap, by interrogating an initiative in one of the largest informal markets of
sub-Saharan Africa. Within this project, informal traders creatively deployed Frontline SMS and the
Ushahidi platforms for crowdsourcing feedback responses and engaged in participatory mapping
that identifies issues around their occupational health and safety. The project was built on the
premise that ICTs can change the way citizen engagement is imagined within local governance
processes, especially those which are currently absent. Citizen engagement, particularly with local
government service providers, can be useful for informal traders to provide collective feedback on
public health services within their work environment. Through the ICT initiative, street vendors
were able to re-imagine their rights at work, especially in relation to occupational health and safety,
through the use of digital hazard maps, and, with intermediary assistance, were able to negotiate
for better safety workplace mechanisms together with local authorities.