Participatory water conservation education on social media in Amathole District local municipalities, Eastern Cape, South Africa

Abstract

Social media has been attributed as beneficial by aiding fast and reliable communication which cuts across time and geographical boundaries. In South Africa, reports indicate that most people have access to social media. Such attributes can be harnessed by municipalities to educate about water conservation, especially considering the drought and water crisis that was experienced in Eastern Cape, South Africa. This paper focused on local municipalities in Amathole District in the Eastern Cape Province, which was declared a high risk zone due to the drought that prevailed in 2016 till 2017. The Government to Citizen Model (G2C) was used as a theoretical framework which supports participation. Purposive sampling was used, with water messages being prioritised. Qualitative content analysis was used to analyse content on the local municipalities’ social media platforms. The researchers found that local municipalities in Amathole District, excluding the district municipality, were not using social media platforms for participatory water conservation education.