Address by Deputy Minister in The Presidency, Mr Kenny Morolong (MP) on the occasion of the Inaugural Out-Of-Home-Media Owners’ Session in Bryanston Country Club, Johannesburg
Programme Director;
Representatives of the MAC sector;
GCIS Acting Deputy Director-General, Mr Sandile Nene who is joining us virtually, and other senior GCIS officials present;
Chairperson and esteemed members of the Out-of-Home media industry (OHMSA, OHMC and non-aligned members);
CEOs and owners of the Out-of-Home media industry;
Members of the media;
Ladies and gentlemen;
Invited guests.
Programme Director,
I want to thank the organising committee for the inviting me to participate in this forum, which is dedicated to addressing the critical challenges and the opportunities facing and shaping our country’s Out-Of-Home (OoH) media sector.
I feel honoured to form part of this historic occasion.
Today, we are here to grow South Africa together – and particularly to grow our Media, Advertising and Communication (MAC) sector. This is a sector that shapes and is shaped by our national identity, cultures and ambitions; a sector that connects South Africans as compatriots and connects us to the rest of our continent and the global community. It is a sector that draws on the creative spirit of our nation, both to celebrate and magnify the best of who and what we are.
But this is also a sector that can – and needs to – help us overcome the many persistent challenges that confront our society and economy.
Our expectations of this sector are therefore onerous.
Programme Director
Poverty, inequality and unemployment remain stubbornly high; and this is also recognised by government under the policy framework known as the National Development Plan (NDP) Vision 2030, which aims to address this by creating 11 million job opportunities by 2030.
These are key economic and social challenges that plague our country and prevent us from achieving the South Africa we want.
This is why job creation is one of the main pillars of the 7th Administration’s priorities in government’s 2024 – 2030 Medium-Term Development Programme (MTDP); under the theme: “A South Africa that works for All”.
Programme Director
Social cohesion, nation building and promoting national identity are all high on the list of South Africa's priorities.
This is clearly articulated again in the NDP, which demands a more unified nation in which the lived experiences of South Africans will progressively undermine and cut across the divisions of race, gender, disability, space and class.
The NDP proposes the review process led by government to ensure that “…the mandate to build the nation and promote constitutional values is strengthened” and that the “independence and autonomy of media institutions and regulatory bodies such as Press Council, ICASA and Advertising Regulatory Body should be protected.”
Government took this decision because we identified the creative industry, under which the broader MAC and Out-of-Home-Media sectors fall, as crucial to creating jobs, alleviating poverty and growing the South African economy.
We undertook to have a government that develops investor-friendly policies, laws and regulations, including municipal by-laws.
We note that in its role of facilitating nation-building, the creative sector “should be supported by government and by the private sector as a sector that has great potential for growth and job creation…”
It is important to note that economic transformation in South Africa occurs at a time when globalisation is at an advanced stage, coupled with the impact of COVID-19 and technological convergence which has resulted in advertising revenues moving to international Over-the- Top Service providers, commonly known as FAANGS – that is, Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Google.
This represents an enormous challenge for the South African government, and we will look to this forum to provide leadership and advice on how best government can match other countries’ successes in redressing the economic imbalances in a digital and multi-platform environment.
Programme Director
In 2024, government and the private sector joined hands to celebrate 30 Years of Freedom and Democracy across the country.
We are proud to report that several policies have been implemented by government to facilitate a better match of the demand and supply of labour.
The unemployed section of our population however, often lives far from jobs, in rural areas, making transport costs unaffordable.
The lack of nearby amenities and expensive transport costs, raise the cost of job- seeking for those least able but competent to apply.
While there has been huge improvement from 1994 to date, unfortunately economic growth has not been equitably distributed throughout the population, making the per capita figures an inaccurate reflection of the change in well-being for the poorest segment of the population.
Programme Director
One of the strategic objectives of the Government Communication and Information System (GCIS) is to ensure “a transformed, print and digital media, advertising sector as well as community media”.
Furthermore, the GCIS is mandated by the B-BBEE Act of 2003 to drive the seven pillars of the B-BBEE Codes (ownership and control, management control, skills development, enterprise development, employment) through the Sector Code whose mandate is overseen by the Sector Charter Council.
To this end, the last two Annual Transformation Reports’ findings are not anything to write home about. Ladies and gentlemen, we are failing our citizens!
Therefore, the role of the MAC Sector Charter Council becomes more urgent to ensure that transformation is promoted, monitored and reported to the GCIS, the dtic, B-BEE Commission and the President’s Advisory Committee on B-BEE.
This is done to create co-existence of old and new businesses in this sector.
Programme Director
As you move forward, I urge members to be purposeful about consumer protection without tinkering with our artistic independence as a sector.
The question on consumer protection should be how the OoH media sector can ensure that it is transformed.
So by transformation, I do not mean destroy existing structures; in fact, as a country, we would only achieve transformation where both new and old exist side-by-side and have access to business opportunities.
- Why is this sector not formalised like the same sector in other parts of the world?
- Why is the sector promoting illegality? There are so many illegal billboards or structures and yet, government is expecting to advertise there.
Why do we still have SMMEs who are owners of businesses, but they do not have the authority or do not determine the prices across the value-chain?
- I urge this sector to resolve the alleged and/or real racism issue affecting this sector, as raised recently at the South African Human Right Commission Inquiry.
- Let us also be honest in all our issues – that although wages allocated to Black African workers have grown relatively quickly over time, in many instances the number of Black workers, especially African women, is still significantly lower than all other race groups and the is still mostly affected by this.
- We must also address the notion of transformation; we also need to be mindful that the value-chain in the sector must be transformed in a transparent manner. For instance, in this sector, a young woman who lives in the far-flung areas is only given a site to rent by a property owner or a municipality. Important revenue-generating activities such as graphic design, artwork, legal contract, printing, deployment of landscaping activities are not given to her but the other companies, some of which are not black companies.
- Equally, the prolonged delays in wayleaves (right of use) by local governments are not helping the situation either.
- We talk about ease of doing business as part of reviving our ailing economy, but how do you explain an approval process that takes as long six months or longer?
- The same can be said of some local government institutions that are quick to provide wayleaves permits but charge exorbitant prices; and corrupt officials who ask for ‘cuts’ or bribes’. These institutions are also stifling the economy.
Programme Director
As I conclude, as the delegated authority given the responsibility of promoting transformation, I will be meeting with Brand South Africa, Media Development and Diversity Agency as well as the MAC Sector Charter Council to issue directives to the institutions on “must do” and “must-achieve” transformation targets which are impactful.
To us transformation means the following:
- Empowerment of historically disadvantaged persons including Black people, with a particular focus on the needs of women, opportunities for youth and challenges for people with disabilities;
- To promote SMMEs in the sector;
- Promote investment, diversity and linguistic plurality in the sector;
- Resolve elements of “anti-competitive dynamics” in the sectors’ value-chain;
- Women are predominately at the coal-face, and are present in senior management positions; and
- Ensure maximum adherence to the B-BBEE scorecards in all the seven elements of empowerment: ownership, management control, employment equity, skills development, preferential procurement, enterprise development and socio-economic development.
I therefore commit that we will work with the MAC sector and other relevant stakeholders to address some of the issues I have highlighted in our quest to achieve a country that works for all.
I thank you.
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