This study examines the critical success factors for digital transformation in South Africa’s public services, where systemic inefficiency, corruption, and limited transparency have eroded public trust. Using a PRISMA-guided systematic literature review of 64 studies, this study synthesises evidence on digital governance challenges and opportunities through the lenses of New Public Management and Digital-Era Governance, complemented by value co-creation and a citizen-centred design. The analysis shows that transformation efforts often falter because of infrastructure deficits, bureaucratic resistance, and policy misalignment. Successful initiatives rest on five mutually reinforcing pillars: (1) coherent policy and regulatory frameworks; (2) equitable and reliable digital infrastructure; (3) committed leadership with sustained institutional capacity-building; (4) meaningful citizen engagement via co-design and co-production; and (5) data-enabled accountability and process efficiency. Persistent barriers include disparities in access and digital skills across municipalities, cybersecurity vulnerabilities, and legacy–system incompatibilities that impede end-to-end integration. This study proposes an implementation framework that aligns technical solutions with governance reforms, such as depoliticised administration, performance-based accountability, and localised service customization to enhance operational efficiency and rebuild trust. It concludes that bridging the digital divide and embedding context-sensitive, participatory, and ethically grounded approaches are essential for sustainable digital transformation in South Africa’s unequal socioeconomic landscape.

The Nigerian oil sector is profoundly challenged by inefficiency and intractable problems, including mismanagement and poor oil governance, which create gaps in the country’s oil industry. This resulted in systemic exclusion, marginalisation, and poverty in the country’s Niger-delta region. A social reality that influenced the development of localised knowledge of artisanal oil refineries in the region’s riverine communities. Previous research paid little attention to the epistemic justice of the oil economy in Nigeria. This study bridged gaps in research by exploring the epistemic discrimination of localised knowledge, which sustains the informal oil business in the Niger-delta. It also investigates how the country’s oil government framed the activity of illegal artisanal refiners to establish a narrative that criminalises the riverine community’s attempt to explore its bequeathed resources. Adopting an exploratory design and a qualitative research method, forty-two participants were purposefully sampled through in-depth and key informant interviews in the riverine communities of Warri Southwest and Nembe Local Government Areas of Delta and Bayelsa States, Nigeria. Data were thematically analysed to form themes and patterns. The study found that, despite the state’s aggressive approaches and the oil government’s criminalisation of localised knowledge, the illegal artisanal refineries of the informal oil industry provide the refined product needs of the Delta region, sustain enterprises, and employ young people in riverine communities. The study contributes to knowledge on the importance of inclusive and equitable acceptance of the roles of artisanal illegal refineries. The oil government must regulate them as a win-win approach to Nigeria’s oil crisis.

This review examines the dynamics of patronage politics, clientelism and prebendalism in South Africa, Nigeria and Zimbabwe, exploring their historical roots, contemporary manifestations and implications for governance. Drawing on a systematic synthesis of peer-reviewed literature and applying the prisma 2020 framework, we find that patronage politics have evolved in South Africa, reinforcing factionalism and crony capitalism, weakening governance and public sector efficiency. In Nigeria, prebendalism has entrenched corruption and elite resource appropriation and has facilitated its federal structure and oil wealth distribution. Zimbabwe’s political landscape is characterised by entrenched patron–client networks marked by elite capture of institutions, cronyism and unprecedented rent-seeking behaviour that persists despite severe economic constraints. The review highlights the role of historical legacies, socio-political structures and institutional weaknesses in sustaining the impact of patronage on grassroots political engagement and informal resilience mechanisms. There is a need for governance reforms, institutional strengthening and policy innovations to mitigate the effects of clientelism and prebendalism on democratic consolidation and sustainable development in Africa.

In this article, we examine the nature of exchange in hook-ups, a pervasive sexual and erotic service provision-for-money practice in Nigeria. This erotic exchange is portrayed as 'what I have for what I want.' An increasingly viable means of survival for young females that involves trading consensual sex and nudes for money, gifts, and travel opportunities. Using a qualitative method grounded in social exchange theory. The study conducted in-depth interviews with young females and patrons/pimps of hook-ups in four South-western cities of Nigeria. The study established that transactional hook-up agencies and patrons prefer to recruit younger hookers below 22 years old because of their sexual marketability, attract wealthy clientele. In Nigeria, these hook-up agencies often collaborate with hotels and liaise with Mobile Apps such as Bingdum , Bumble , Badoo and Olosho for clientele of various statuses to book young females and even young married females offering erotic services for survival. We found that the desire for survival, opportunities for international travel, social connections with wealthy Nigerians, and dysfunctional households compelled more young females to hook up. Despite the challenges, health risks, and the risk of being used for ritual sacrifices and exploitation by agencies/patrons. The transactional hook-up sector is lucrative, offers opportunities and accommodates newcomers in Nigeria. Imperatively, the study highlights young people's empowerment and regulation of the hook-up sex industry in Nigeria.

In Nigeria, cybercrime has evolved into a complex socio-cultural phenomenon, especially among youths in urban and semi-urban communities. Prior studies focused on urban cybercrime, leaving gaps regarding combined cyber-fraud networks and ritualistic practices influencing Ghana-burger operations in Ughelli, Nigeria. The study examined the socioeconomic, cultural, and institutional drivers sustaining cybercrime among the Ghana-Burgers, an organised group of cybercriminals known for combining internet fraud with ritual practices. This study aims to answer the question: What factors sustain the Ghana-Burgers’ cyber-spiritualism in Ughelli . The study adopted a descriptive design grounded in cultural deviance and social learning theories. Thirty participants, including Ghana-Burgers, EFCC officials, police officers, vigilantes, youth leaders, and community members, were purposely selected and reached through the snowball technique. Economic hardship, peer pressure, increasing access to ritualistic practices, and ICT tools motivated youths into cybercrime. “HK” (Hustling Kingdom) houses function as training hubs where cybercrime apprenticeship, fraud tactics and networks are taught and established. Ritual sacrifices, fortification and charms obtained by parents reinforced cyber-spiritualism, while success in cybercrime became a new standard of respect and aspiration, influencing more youths within communities. This undermined formal education, attracting teenagers groomed for the trade. Although these activities disrupted moral and educational norms, they also reduced cultism and other violent crimes in the area. The study highlighted that cyber-spiritualism is not merely economic but has become a socially accepted, culturally reinforced path to status and mobility. It recommends community-based youth empowerment programmes, digital literacy, family reorientation campaigns, and the integration of local security networks into formal crime prevention strategies.