Address by Minister in The Presidency, Ms. Khumbudzo Ntshavheni (MP) on the occasion of the Government Communication and Information System (GCIS) Budget Vote at Good Hope Chamber, Parliament
Honourable House Chairperson,
Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Communications and Digital Technologies, Honourable Khusela Sangoni,
Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, Honourable Theliswa Mgweba
Deputy Ministers in The Presidency, Honourable Kenny Morolong – who is delegated the GCIS responsibility and Honourable Nonceba Mhlauli
Members of the Portfolio Committees on Communications & Digital Technologies, and Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation.
The senior management of GCIS, Brand South Africa and the MDDA
Representatives of the Boards of MDDA and BrandSA, and
Honourable members.
The total budget allocation to Government Communication and Information System (GCIS) over the 2026/7, 27/8 and 28/9 MTEF period amounts to R2,503 billion, 3.15% decrease compared to 25/26. This budget is allocated as follows per year:
- 2026/27: R803, 246 million
- 2027/28: R837, 030 million
- 2028/29: R863, 045 million
Of the 2026/27 financial year budget, R262, 523 million is transfers and subsidies of which R218, 349 million is transferred to Brand SA, and R41, 924 million to MDDA. An operating budget of R535, 067 million caters for compensation of employees at the value of R324, 517 million to cater for the post establishment of 500 permanent positions, and goods and services to the value of R210, 550 million.
I must indicate that the GCIS post establishment is not fully funded due to insufficient allocation for the compensation of employees’ and the unfunded cost-of-living adjustment. This is in addition to the budget reductions implemented by National Treasury over the 2026 MTEF period (R29, 564 million). In the goods and services budget, we could only have a paltry allocation of R20 million for communication of national key campaigns.
Honourable members will certainly be in agreement that a R20 million allocation is insufficient to cover the cost to communicate across platforms and in all languages, in particular in this important year of local government elections.
House Chairperson,
The year 2026 is a seminal year. It is hosting significant milestones in the history of South Africa’s journey towards freedom and democracy. In this year, South Africa will mark 30 years since the adoption of the democratic Constitution on the 8th of May 1996 by the first democratic and representative Parliament. The Constitution remain a living expression of our nation’s collective commitment to constitutional democracy, human rights, freedoms, and the rule of law. It is important to emphasise that the Rights enshrined in the Bill of Rights of the Constitution are accompanied by responsibilities that we have as citizens to each other and our the country. We must play our part.
The country will also commemorate the 50th anniversary or the Golden Jubilee of the 1976 Soweto youth uprisings that spread across the country and continued into the 1977. The opposition to bantu education and the introduction of Afrikaans as a “forced-medium of instruction” galvanised the masses of young people to render the country ungovernable and Apartheid unworkable in the fight for freedom and democracy. In August 2026, the country will also commemorate the 70th Anniversary of the 9th August 1956, 20.000 women’s March to the Union Buildings protesting the extension of “Pass Laws” to women.
In light of these milestones, the GCIS is coordinating not only commemorations of these milestones in South Africa’s history, mobilising South Africans around the Milestones of Freedom Campaign under the theme “Honouring the Past. Delivering the Future” as a whole of society approach. This Campaign involves packaged-service-weeks that mobilises public service interventions to and with communities in support of the District Development Model. The Campaign focuses on citizens as active participants in their own environments rather than passive recipients of services.
The Milestones of Freedom campaign also carries with an educational and informational component, for example – many South Africans do not know that white women were part of the 1956 Women’s March as they understood the impact the extension of the Pass Laws to black women would have in their own lives. The Milestones of Freedom Campaign is coordinated with both national and provincial departments, and district municipalities and the partnership with community media to ensure widest reach.
2026 is also a year for the Local Government Elections. Ordinarily, GCIS should be running a fully fledged campaign for voter education and elections awareness as part of strengthening our participatory democracy. However, the GCIS was not allocated funds to support the local government elections. Without a fully fledged Local Government Elections campaign, the GCIS will strive to provide accurate and timely information related on the 2026 LGE.
Honourable members,
To improve the GCIS’s ability to execute on its mandate of coordinating the government communication system to be coherent and responsive, the GCIS is repositioning itself to serve as a government content hub. This is part of evolving GCIS from being just a coordinator of the government communication system, but to also serve as a government content hub by becoming a central content authority of government communication. The benefits of GCIS being a government content hub include:
- It strengthens consistency in government messaging
- It allows government to frame its messaging
- Maintains information authority during crisis as a central information source
- Counters misinformation with verified sources
- Serve as supplier of verified government information to media houses.
The key pillars of the Government Content Hub model are:
- Editorial Content Centre (ECC)
- The wire service of government information
- Platforms approach
- Reviewed Media engagement approach
- National Fact-Check capability
The GCIS has started to operationalise the Editorial Content Centre (ECC) which is being replicated at Provincial level. The Editorial Content Centre coordinates the other four pillars for informed editorial decision- making.
The wire service of government information
During the 2025/26 Budget Debate, I indicated that GCIS is positioning SA News as a wire service of government information. We are firmly on course to ensure that SA News content is designed not just for publication but for redistribution. Therefore, the performance measurement of SA news is not based on website traffic but by the number of downstream channels that have used the SA News content or the redistribution rate. The next steps will include releasing alerts and statements through SANews. On the redistribution rate, between April of 2025 and March 2026, 377 (306 National and 77 international) SA News content was re-used by downstream channels.
Platforms approach
Our platforms approach departs from a view that platforms are not just output channels, but they are also a feedback loop, with every engagement, question and share guided by a deliberate and coordinated approach. Commencing in the 2026/27 financial year, GCIS will commence monitoring the weekly reach, engagement and shares across all platforms, not only for performance data but to also close the GCIS visibility gap. Closing the visibility gap requires GCIS to have a structured summary and analysis of what citizens are asking and sharing, and where government is absent from conversations which are underway. The insights will inform redistribution and content decisions, and editorial actions.
This advances the work on improved engagement rate aimed at improving interaction between government and citizens which we piloted in the 2026/26. From that pilot, it is pleasing to report a substantial growth of GCIS - managed digital platforms which achieved over 1,4 billion reach in 2025/26.
Reviewed Media Engagement approach
The reviewed media engagement approach emphasises both the proactive and reactive elements which are supported by a strong media monitoring capacity. The media monitoring function identifies narratives needing responses or amplification. On the proactive front, the revised media engagement approach supports the implementation of Departmental or Provincial or Local Government Communication Plans. In the 2026/27 financial year, GCIS will improve on monitoring the implementation of government communications plans both at compliance and substantive levels.
At the core of the revised media engagement strategy is community media driven by the use of local languages to expand reach. Deputy Minister Morolong will expand on our approach to community media and the MDDA plans to support them.
Dealing with misinformation, disinformation and malinformation
The problem of misinformation, disinformation and malinformation generally characterised as fake news remains a serious challenge. We have observed the contribution of digital media and artificial intelligence (AI) as theatres and tools of disinformation and misinformation. South Africa’s situation is exacerbated by the fact that South Africans are rated as the topmost people propagandised people in the world in the Ipsos Perils of Perception Index 2026. According to most Ipsos surveys, South Africans are amongst the most misinformed and disconnected from reality regarding the state of their own nation. Therefore, the GCIS’s response to misinformation and disinformation must be deliberate and systematic.
Having observed how other countries are addressing this phenomenon, at a Policy level, the National AI Policy must compel digital media platforms to:
- Disclose the AI generated content carried on their platforms (AI content branding)
- Prohibit the broadcasting of Fake and Misleading News about South Africa
In the meantime, when the AI policy is being actually written and the Cybersecurity Strategy being finalised, the GCIS will engage with digital platform owners to reach agreement on the two proposed principles.
Furthermore, the GCIS is provisioning for the government Fact-Check capability to proactively debunk deepfakes and tactical misinformation. This measure seeks to progress the current stamping of fake news but collating the stamped fake news images, videos and stories to enable individuals to personally check through creation of a dedicated website supported by a digital platform. In addition, the GCIS will also provide correct facts against the fake news. The goal is to position GCIS as the anchor of the truth. Individuals will also be able to alert GCIS on suspected fake news which they would have come across.
GCIS is also developing a “Quick Guide” to assist government communicators in effectively countering misinformation, disinformation and malinformation.
Honourable House Chairperson
On behalf of Deputy Minister Morolong and myself, I wish to thank the Portfolio Committee on Communications and Digital Technologies for their continued support, insight and constructive engagements. The Portfolio Committee on Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation for their continued support, insight and robust oversight. We extend our gratitude to the leadership and staff of the GCIS and its entities for their continued commitment to the work of ensuring that South Africans are empowered through information. The GCIS Acting Director General Nomonde Mnukwa for effectively hold the fort during the GCIS rebuilding phase, we can today boost that all government departments conduct their media briefings at GCIS centres, today GCIS can stand head above the rest in coordinating the government communication system as all departments and provinces have communication strategies and plans that are being implemented. We are confident that the DPSA will soon finalise the process of appointing a substantive DG of GCIS for Cabinet approval. Ndiyabulela Mazibula. Ani ri tshileli.
Na khensa
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