htp://www.sajim.co.za Open Access South African Journal of Informaton Management ISSN: (Online) 1560-683X, (Print) 2078-1865 Page 1 of 9 Original Research Read online: Scan this QR code with your smart phone or mobile device to read online. Authors: Willard Munyoka 1 Manoj S. Maharaj 2 Afliatons: 1 Department of Business Informaton Systems, University of Venda, Thohoyandou, South Africa 2 School of Management, IT and Governance, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa Corresponding author: Willard Munyoka, wmunyoka@gmail.com Dates: Received: 19 Mar. 2018 Accepted: 10 Oct. 2018 Published: 14 Mar. 2019 How to cite this artcle: Munyoka, W. & Maharaj, M.S., 2019, ‘Privacy, security, trust, risk and optmism bias in e-government use: The case of two Southern African Development Community countries’, South African Journal of Informaton Management 21(1), a983. htps://doi.org/10.4102/ sajim.v21i1.983 Copyright: © 2019. The Authors. Licensee: AOSIS. This work is licensed under the Creatve Commons Atributon License. Introducton Electronic government (e-government) can provide quality services to citizens when and where needed. E-government is recognised as a fundamental tool to encourage citizen participation in public service delivery matters (United Nations 2016b) and millions of dollars are being invested annually in e-government projects across the world (World Bank 2016). However, e-government adoption by citizens (G2C) remains very low (Shalhoub 2006; World Bank 2016). The established primary reasons for this are security concerns, trust issues, risk factors and privacy issues (Shalhoub 2006; Zafropoulos, Karavalisis & Vrana 2012). However, there are other factors (Bwalya 2017; Munyoka & Maharaj 2017) affecting the use of e-government by citizens. This study investigated how privacy, security, trust, risk and optimism bias factors are affecting citizens’ perceptions and decisions to use e-government systems in Zimbabwe and Zambia. The keyword ‘perceived’ prefxed on each construct (e.g. perceived security) refers to both citizens’ perceptions and actual experience. The results of this study would be signifcant to practitioners, decision-makers and policymakers who seek to strengthen the G2C relationships in developing countries. This article is structured as follows: frstly, the theoretical underpinnings are laid out for the study. Then the research model and hypotheses followed by the research methodology are presented. The fndings of the empirical study are then presented and discussed. Theoretcal underpinnings The complex nature of the G2C phenomenon requires multiple models to help interpret the data collected. This study draws from several models: the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education cybersecurity capability maturity models (NICE-CMM) and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Cybersecurity Framework (NIST 2018; US Department of Background: Many Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries are adopting and implementing e-government systems to improve the effciency and effectiveness of their service delivery systems, and Zimbabwe and Zambia are not an exception. However, scholars have noted that the acceptance and utilisation of e-government systems by citizens in Zimbabwe and Zambia is affected by many factors, among others, perceived privacy, perceived security, perceived trust, perceived risk and optimism bias. Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of privacy, security, trust, optimism bias and perceived risk on citizens’ use behaviour of e-government systems in the SADC. Method: This study proposes an e-government utilisation model. A quantitative design was employed to collect data from a survey of 489 e-government users in Zambia and Zimbabwe to test the model ft using structural equation modelling. Results: Perceived lack of privacy, security, trust; perceived risk and optimism bias were all confrmed as salient factors affecting the utilisation of e-government systems by citizens in Zambia and Zimbabwe. The structural equation model results confrmed the model ft of the proposed e-government research model. All eight hypotheses for this study were confrmed. Conclusion: The fndings of this study provide pointers to practitioners, decision-makers and policymakers on e-government matters on the need to seriously consider privacy, security, risk and trust issues of e-government systems to encourage the utilisation of such systems by citizens. Privacy, security, trust, risk and optmism bias in e-government use: The case of two Southern African Development Community countries Read online: Scan this QR code with your smart phone or mobile device to read online.