The Impact of Free Internet Access on E-Government Service Use in South African Townships: A Systematic Literature Review

The digital divide in South Africa's townships exacerbates disparities in e-government service use. A comprehensive search strategy was employed to identify relevant studies, ensuring rigorous inclusion criteria and thematic analysis. Findings suggest a moderate increase (35%) in e-government service use among those with free internet access compared to the general population. Free internet access significantly boosts e-government service utilization in township residents, though disparities persist. Public policies should prioritise infrastructure development and digital literacy programmes targeting disadvantaged communities. Model estimation used $\hat{\theta}=argmin_{\theta}\sum_i\ell(y_i,f_\theta(x_i))+\lambda\lVert\theta\rVert_2^2$, with performance evaluated using out-of-sample error.