Background: The purpose of this study is to assess the impact of digital technologies on local government service delivery with a focus on digitalisation and the digital revolution, in the wake of a global digital revolution which is transforming many countries across the globe. Aim: To understand the potential benefits and challenges of digital transformation in local government. Methods: The qualitative research methods are employed for this study, primarily through the application of systematic literature review as well as secondary data analysis. The secondary data were collected and assessed to examine e-governance initiatives. The study used Google Scholar, ISI, ProQuest and Scopus search engines to locate these studies using keywords such as e-government, local government, service delivery and digital transformation. Results: The findings of this study reveal that the digital transformation in local government provides greater accessibility to local government, improved service delivery and the improvement of overall citizen participation in South African municipalities. Conclusion: This study concludes that digital transformation presents chances to enhance service provision and good governance. However, achieving this will require addressing challenges related to the adoption of digital technology in local government. Therefore, local government must invest in infrastructure and the development of digital skills. Contribution: This article has the potential to add to theory, policy and practice in terms of e-government and digital technologies in local government in the South African context.

Criminal extortion and protection fees have emerged as significant threats to the sustainability of township businesses in South Africa, undermining entrepreneurship, formalisation, investment, and local economic development. This study examines how FinTech and complementary digital technologies may reduce the vulnerabilities associated with cash-based transactions while supporting longer-term economic resilience. It presents a qualitative systematic literature review of evidence published between 2016 and 2026, drawn from Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar, and supplemented by AI-assisted searching. The search yielded 8704 records, of which 114 were assessed in full-text and 48 were included in the final synthesis. The findings indicate that mobile money, digital payments, and blockchain-enabled systems may reduce cash dependency, improve transaction transparency and security, and strengthen financial participation. Complementary digital reporting and community platforms may further support collective responses to extortion. The review also identified a potential longer-term pathway from digital transaction records to greater financial visibility and formal financial participation; however, digital adoption does not automatically produce access to credit or eliminate extortion. Diffusion of innovation theory is used to explain how relative advantages, compatibility, complexity, trialability, and observability shape adoption. The study contributes to a governance-oriented FinTech framework in which digital payment adoption is understood as both a financial inclusion mechanism and a potential risk-reduction and formalisation pathway that could influence the sustainability of businesses. Its effectiveness depends on digital literacy, affordable infrastructure, institutional trust, enabling regulation, and multi-stakeholder collaboration.

Criminal extortion and protection fees have emerged as significant threats to the sustainability of township businesses in South Africa, undermining entrepreneurship, formalisation, investment, and local economic development. While FinTech has transformed financial inclusion and digital transactions globally, its potential to disrupt cash-based extortion economies and strengthen the resilience of township enterprises remains largely unexplored. This paper investigates how FinTech innovations, including blockchain-enabled payment systems, mobile money, digital payment technologies, and complementary community-based digital platforms, can enhance economic resilience by reducing vulnerabilities associated with cash-based transactions and extortion. Drawing on the diffusion of innovation theory, this qualitative systematic literature review examined the opportunities, challenges, and institutional conditions influencing the adoption of these technologies within township economies. The findings suggest that FinTech innovations have the potential to reduce cash dependency, enhance transaction transparency, strengthen financial inclusion, improve collective reporting mechanisms, and build community resilience against extortion networks. However, their effectiveness depends on complementary investments in digital literacy, affordable digital infrastructure, institutional trust, enabling regulatory frameworks, and multi-stakeholder collaboration. The paper contributes to digital governance and FinTech scholarship by reframing technology adoption not only as a financial inclusion strategy but also as a governance mechanism that can enhance transparency, accountability, collective reporting, and economic security within vulnerable local economies. It further demonstrates how FinTech-enabled digital financial ecosystems can support the long-term sustainability of township economies through enhanced business resilience, secure digital transactions, and inclusive local economic development.

This research is a multidisciplinary study constituting both indigenous knowledge systems and medical anthropology, which focuses on people’s health and well-being and the possible cultural ways of dealing with factors influencing their health and well-being. This study aimed to explore and describe what are the views of Moletjie-Ramakgaphola community on the causes of measles. Lastly to come up with recommendations on how indigenous knowledge can be incorporated in the epidemiology of measles. The study followed a qualitative research approach. Purposive sampling was used with snowballing as a technique. Data were collected and fieldnotes were written during the interviews to record the non-verbal cues from the participants and face-to-face interviews with an interview schedule. Scientific research procedures and ethics were respected and maintained throughout the research process from the initial stage to the last. The collected data were analysed using thematic analysis. Our research findings are threefold. The first category is the terminology used in a vernacular language (Sepedi) to refer to measles. The second category is the limited knowledge by participants regarding the causes and symptoms of measles form both African and Western perspectives. The third category is the knowledge by participants on curative measures from indigenous point of view and otherwise. Contribution: This research sought to make a scholarly contribution to the field of anthropology and indigenous knowledge systems with specific reference to the epidemiology of measles.