Business continuity in the public sector: a case study of the Western Cape Government, South Africa

Abstract

This paper explored the management of risks and the continuation of business in the public sector more specifically, the Western Cape Government of South Africa. It is argued that the current environment is continuously evolving, organisations are therefore not immune to change and disruption. The inability of an organisation such as government to manage business continuity would compromise service delivery to the citizens. The study adopted an interpretivist philosophy that allowed for the exploration of the theory and to obtain rich in-depth data from the participants. A qualitative approach utilising semi structured interviews and focus groups among 6 of the 13 Western Cape Government departments were used. From the findings, it is argued that the risk and business continuity management processes were not fully understood. It is recommended that business continuity be adopted as a holistic approach with business continuity embedded within the existing government processes to manage disruptions appropriately