Government Communication and Information System (GCIS) Budget Vote (Vote No 7)
2006
17 May 2006
Madame Speaker
Honourable Members
By chance, tomorrow marks an anniversary which has correctly but regrettably
not been included in the national calendar of high profile national
anniversaries.
Eight years ago on 18 May this House gave its assent to the first GCIS
Budget Vote, and formally it is the date on which the Department was
launched.
This coincidence serves to remind us of the long journey that we have
travelled in ensuring strategic content and coherence in government
communication, the better to serve the people as demanded by our
Constitution.
Critically we proceeded from the understanding that without information,
there can be no popular participation; without popular participation there can
be no lasting legitimacy or transformation of society.
It is accepted without question that good communication lies at the root of
success in the fast-moving, global world in which we live - particularly in
matters of delivery and development. It fosters the necessary environment for
the pursuit of partnerships leading to shared growth and a better life for
all.
For those of us who enjoy the freedom that came through struggle, and who
today live in our countryâs Age of Hope, the question must be: to what extent
are we acting to build on our countryâs achievement in order to help ensure
that the public is informed about its rights and responsibilities; to what
extent are we co-operating to ensure that those who are disadvantaged know
about the opportunities that democracy has brought, and are then able to take
advantage of them.
The core mandate of Government Communications is to meet the communication
and information needs of Government and the Public. The Governmentâs mandate
requires that communication should expand access to opportunities and help the
people of South Africa to act as their own liberators. It should bring the
realities in an emergent and thriving democracy to the attention of the
international community. It should promote the renaissance of Africa, including
regional integration and the implementation of people-centred development
programmes.
In the current period, guided by the popular mandate of the 2004 and 2006
elections, government communication is a critical instrument in harnessing the
groundswell of hope and optimism in our nation into concrete action for higher
rates of growth and development.
The experience of government over the First Decade of our Freedom has taught
us that, for social change to succeed in changing peopleâs lives for the
better, it is critical that we should build partnerships across society in a
national effort to lift the country to a faster trajectory of development.
In this context, four critical issues in governmentâs programme for the
decade will have significant impact on progress towards the society envisioned
in our constitution. They are:
* fulfilment of the socio-economic goals defined in governmentâs mandate;
* Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa (AsgiSA) as the
focus of a national effort to create employment and fight poverty;
* the formation of new local government with a five-year mandate
* hosting the 2010 Soccer World Cup
The central question of this GCIS Budget Vote debate, therefore, is: what is
the GCIS doing to promote the achievement of these common national
objectives.
Madame Speaker
On that day eight years ago when I had the privilege of presenting the plans
of Government Communications to use their first budget, I reported that GCIS
would âwork with the provinces to complete a model for provincial communication
structuresâ. Today I can report with confidence that we have forged a system
that integrates provincial government; and a breakthrough has been made in
extending the system to the local sphere.
Last week a national conference on local government communication was
convened to consolidate a year of provincial workshops in every province that
grappled with building local government communication capacity.
Over two hundred municipal communicators as well as many newly elected
councillors with responsibility for communication and some municipal managers
gathered to deliberate on draft guidelines for a municipal communication
system. They also developed a draft communication programme to support the
five-year strategic plan for local government and to help communities become
more active in their municipalities. Foremost amongst issues in the plan is a
mass door-to-door campaign to raise awareness of the priorities in the
municipal Integrated Development Plans (IDPs) and to improve the functioning of
Ward Committees as principal platforms of communication and governance.
Attention was paid to building a network of communicators, councillors,
Community Development Workers, social workers and others that are working in
partnership to listen to communities and explain how they can change their
lives for the better.
At the close of the conference the municipal communicators adopted the
âTshwane Declarationâ, committing themselves to a sustained communication
programme over the next five years to advance the development agenda of
government in the local sphere. They committed to building a partnership with
the public that includes:
* enhancing community participation, and local government accountability and
transparency through improved communication
* strengthening local government communication as a development tool
* enhancing service delivery and development programmes through intensified
communications support.
There can be no doubt about the significance of this development. In the
same measure as national and provincial priorities find expression in the
crucible of local activity, so should the broad messages in these other spheres
find concrete articulation in local communities.
In this context it is relevant to reflect on the level of participation in
the recent local government elections. There were many predictions, especially
amongst some media analysts and commentators, of a turbulent local election
with low levels of participation and reduced support for the incumbent party.
There were suggestions that the levels of protest and dissatisfaction indicated
alienation from the democratic system and put a question mark on the countryâs
stability.
But the voting trends and published research conducted before the elections
throw a different light on the situation. Not only was registration up, but the
turnout of registered voters was also slightly up. As a result 1,3 million more
citizens cast votes than in the previous local election. What is more, in many
of the wards affected by civic protests turnout was above the national
average
This divergence between the analysis of the media experts and the opinions
of the citizens should be food for thought. What is clear is that the citizens
of this country are deeply committed to our democratic system, and to working
with their elected government to improve their lives.
Madame Speaker
Parallel but intimately related to this initiative to build local government
communication capacity, has been the further evolution of the Imbizo programme
during the past year.
The Municipal Imbizo Programme, co-ordinated by GCIS, The Presidency and
Department of Provincial and Local Government (dplg), brought the executive
from all spheres into direct interaction with elected representatives,
municipal managers and other officials to identify the concrete things that
need to be done to improve provision of services to the public. Combined with
interactions with local communities, these izimbizo have created the platform
to attend to concrete problems in a concrete way. Virtually all Project
Consolidate municipalities were covered, either through District izimbizo of
the President and Deputy President or local izimbizo of Ministers and Deputy
Ministers.
The National Imbizo Focus Week held a month ago focused on interaction
around local programmes of action to promote speedy implementation of
government programmes including AsgiSA.
Through this programme we have in actual practice come better to appreciate
the dynamic link between communication and project implementation, between
information dissemination and development, between knowledge management in
communities and people-driven development.
We have also ensured that interactive communication is accompanied by a
multimedia approach to communication, using products and platforms that meet
the needs and preferences of each sector of the population.
Language and format is one dimension. The annual mass campaign to popularise
Governmentâs Programme of Action for 2006 again has used all official languages
â including Braille; it has included a photo story in publications with wide
reach especially amongst the poor, and a series of radio dramas in all
languages except English.
The placing of photo-stories is part of governmentâs advertising
expenditure, trends in which the Portfolio Committee on Communications has for
some years shown a keen interest.
I am happy to report that about half of the national departments of
government make use of the GCIS bulk-buying facility; and as a result, trends
of government advertising expenditure are increasingly matching trends in
public media usage, with a focus on those who need government information most,
in order to improve their lives.
Preliminary indications from recently conducted research are that the
patterns of adspend by government departments that use the GCIS facility are
closer to the patterns of public media usage as measured by readership and
audiences compared with those that donât. It will therefore be a continuing
priority to promote wider use of this facility across government.
Madame Speaker,
Government regards the media as an extremely important institution and a
partner in ensuring that citizens have the greatest access possible to
information.
The regular media briefings on implementation of the Programme of Action and
updating of progress on Government on-line continue to provide the public with
factual information on the basis of which analysis and assessment of progress
can be made. Content from BuaNews Service continues to gain increasing profile
in both domestic and foreign media. Usage of the BuaNews site has increased by
some 20% a month since its recent upgrade.
These, then, Honourable Members, are some of the ways in which GCIS has
during the past year sought to expand public access to government
information.
Research indicates that these efforts have had impact, and that the
proportion of the public who feel that they are receiving âenoughâ information
from government has significantly increased. Nevertheless, that proportion is
still too low and it is lowest amongst those most in need of such
information.
In order to enhance our reach in this regard, last year we launched the
popular government magazine, Vukâuzenzele. With a circulation of one million
copies, the magazine is now in its fifth edition and it has consistently
elicited enthusiastic response and requests for more copies than it has been
possible to supply. What we can say with confidence is that the practical
information it provides in all official languages and Braille is clearly
meeting a public need.
The Batho Pele Gateway Call-Centre is used by Vukâuzenzele as a back-office
to provide its readers with a one-stop source of further information. This has
increased calls to the centre many times over, particularly amongst
African-language users. Most calls by far are either from people wanting to
know where to get copies or seeking further information about opportunities and
programmes covered in the magazine.
The mass communication campaign to broaden access to economic opportunities
continues, using a second edition of the core publication also in all
languages. The information is being disseminated through workshops across the
country. The 13-part TV series on economic opportunities, flighted on SABC2,
Azishe Ke!, which was broadcast from October 2005 to January 2006, will be
re-broadcast in October this year.
The Multipurpose Community Centres (MPCCs) provide an important and
expanding infrastructure for people to access government services and
information about opportunities. By the end of March 2006, 88 MPCCs were in
operation, and we look forward to celebrating during the course of this year
the 100th MPCC to come into operation.
As the MPCCs are rolled-out, research has been conducted in 66 MPCCs on
their impact and functioning. Centre managers have been trained in customer
care and Batho Pele principles of service delivery. The goal remains an MPCC in
each local municipality by 2014. Better funding mechanisms for this programme
are being finalised in discussion with National Treasury.
Madame Speaker,
It is gratifying to record progress in the efforts to make information about
opportunities more accessible. But welcome as this is, it needs to be
multiplied many times over to meet the public need. As in all crucial
initiatives to transform our country, government cannot on its own bring about
what must be done.
GCIS therefore places a high premium on partnering communicators in the
private sector, non-governmental and community-based organisations and
State-owned Enterprises in addressing the communication needs of Second Economy
communities. One of the critical questions we have posed is whether as GCIS we
do fully understand the dynamics of life in these communities. To take this
matter further, and in addition to utilising the practical experience of our
operatives on the ground, we are planning a workshop of all role-players to see
how the many current initiatives can be expanded and what new approaches we can
adopt to extend our reach.
Part of the communication partnership finds expression in the Media
Development and Diversity Agency (MDDA) which is now three years old. We are
proud that the MDDA is succeeding in doing what it was established by law to
do, namely providing support to the development of the small media sector.
I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the very great
contribution that was made by its first CEO, Libby Lloyd, who with the support
of the Board and the staff put the agency on a sound footing. The way it has
conducted its business has gained wide respect, including from those who
doubted the feasibility of this initiative. We wish the newly appointed CEO, Mr
Lumka Mtimde, and staff the very best in continuing this important work.
The MDDA was able to report to the Portfolio Committee before this debate
that it had complied with all the regulations and requirements of the Act; that
it had disbursed all the funds it had received from government; that since 2003
it had approved support for 97 media projects across all provinces; and that it
had been able to continue to complement financial support with quite extensive
support-in-kind by tapping networks of expertise.
Honourable Members,
The process towards the transformation of the marketing, advertising and
communications industry has moved steadily forward following a ceremonial
signing of its Transformation Charter in November 2005. Since then work has
been done to bring still further role-players into the charter process, while
ensuring that its content complies with Phase two of the Codes released by the
dti in December 2005. This meant, for instance, incorporating into the Charter
the industryâs target for completing the first round of implementing the
Charter earlier by 2014 compared to the dti 2016 timeframe.
The Monitoring and Steering Committee is finalising, in consultation with
the dti, a draft constitution for a Charter Council and its funding. We are
confident that, in the coming few months, the committee will be ready to submit
the Charter to the Minister of Trade and Industry for approval and gazetting
for public comment.
The Academy of Government Communication and Marketing, a partnership with
Unilever, the Mandela Rhodes Foundation and Wits School of Public &
Development Management, this week began teaching its third intake of 40
students from all spheres of government and some state-owned enterprises. The
demand for places on the course remains high and as the initiative enters its
third year the partnership will be taking stock of progress and charting the
way forward.
Honourable Members,
As already noted, the hosting of the first African World Cup in 2010
represents a great opportunity for South Africa.
After consultation with the Federation of International Football
Association(FIFA) and the 2010 Local Organising Committee, the 2010 National
Communication Partnership held a launch workshop in November last year with the
support of about 150 delegates from public and private sectors, representing
the spectrum of communication disciplines. Working through the International
Marketing Council and GCIS, the partnership is preparing for the time, at the
end of the 2006 Soccer World Cup in Germany, when South Africaâs communicators
can make the most of the communication opportunities of the first African World
Cup to build national unity and African solidarity; to market the country and
continent; and to foster the climate for faster and shared growth.
At the same time the experience of other countries hosting very large events
tells us that there is a premium in such situations on ensuring co-ordinated
and consistent communication about the state of readiness and the myriad of
opportunities the event offers. From our own recent experience we can learn how
narrow communication can undermine the interests of South Africa, how much more
will this be the case when the whole world focuses on South Africa?
Madame Speaker
The IMC, which is a key element of the 2010 Partnership, is itself a
partnership of various sectors of our society to ensure that our countryâs
communicators in all walks objectively reflect the realities of our society, to
ensure that as a people we close the gap between perceptions and reality in
this regard, so that the world can appreciate all those attributes that make
South Africa, as the IMC puts it so aptly, âAlive with Possibilityâ.
During the past year the IMC has made progress in its mandate to engage with
stakeholders and other role-players to promote co-ordination and coherence in
branding the country. This has included important work with a number of
provinces to ensure that the branding of provinces is aligned with that of the
country.
The emphasis of the IMCâs work has decidedly shifted to the international
stage, both in intensity and scope. In this regard it is most welcome that it
is extending its country brand manager formula, initiated in Britain and the
United States of America (USA), to a third continent, with the appointment soon
of a country brand manager in India. There the emphasis will be less on
correcting a false image of our country, but rather of ensuring that investment
and tourism opportunities are taken up by one of the emerging giants of the
world economy.
The task of shifting negative perceptions of our country is one that will
take time, effort and skill. The commitment of the IMC to put AsgiSA at the
centre of its marketing campaign will advance that task by helping to focus
international attention on the strengths of our economy and the opportunities
of participating in our programme of accelerated and shared growth. Indeed,
through its work, the IMC is emerging as one of the vital weapons in the
armoury of our quest for national reconstruction and development.
Progress in the work of the IMC depends also on how South Africans deal with
the kinds of events that are so easily turned and manipulated to confirm
negativity about the country. Do we take a spike of high profile crime
incidents occurring in the context of a positive trend and suggest that the
country is in an upward spiral of crime? Do we take the trial of a prominent
member of society as a rupture in our body politic or as an affirmation of the
strength of our democracy? Do we take the exposure of malfeasance in the public
and private sector as a reflection of the character of our society or as the
exception to the rule; the exposure of such activities being a pointer to our
open democracy?
These questions are challenges for all of us, both media and society.
Honourable Members,
What has been outlined is both an account of the use we made of the funds
allocated last financial year and our priorities for 2006/07.
The budget allocation for 2005/06 of R249,130 million was spent as planned.
There was however an expected saving in the budget for Vukâuzenzele, based on
the fact that we only received notification of the allocation in February last
year. Even so, we managed to establish the magazine and produce four editions
in the first financial year.
The allocated budget for 2006/07 is R288,037 million representing an
addition to the baseline of R38,9 million. These additional funds will go
towards: the Government Magazine Vukâuzenzele, the Media Development &
Diversity Agency, the Multi-Purpose Community Centres programme and the
International Marketing Council.
Honourable members,
We are very grateful and appreciative of the work and support provided by
the Portfolio Committee on Communications and in particular the former
Chairperson of the Committee, Mr Kgaogelo Lekgoro. We wish Mr Lekgoro well with
his new responsibilities as a member of the executive in Gauteng Province.
I take this opportunity to express my gratitude and appreciation to the
members of the Board and staff at the International Marketing Council, in
particular the Chairperson Ms Wendy Luhabe and the CEO, Ms Yvonne Johnson, as
well as the members of the Board and staff at the Media Development and
Diversity Agency for their tireless work and commitment.
I should like to offer a word of warmest congratulations to Mr Joel
Netshitenzhe and his gallant GCIS team for the impressive way they have run
this crucial Government operation over the past eight years.
Finally, I commend the GCIS budget to the House
Thank you
Issued by: Government Communication (GCIS)
17 May 2006
