PRESENTATION OF THE GCIS ANNUAL REPORT 2006/07 TO THE PORTFOLIO
COMMITTEE ON COMMUNICATION
23 October 2007
INTRODUCTION
1.
We are thankful for the opportunity offered to us by the Portfolio Committee to
present highlights of our work during the
financial year 2006/07. The core mandate of
Government Communications (GCIS) is
to ensure that the public can access information in ways that are convenient
to them, through the language they prefer and most
importantly that it should help enable them to improve their
lives, especially the poor, and to
participate actively in shaping the direction of their country.
2.
GCIS continually seeks to improve and expand access to
information through various platforms. In doing so
we are informed by our assessment on how and where people prefer
to receive government information to better
their lives. We are guided by the advice which we receive from this
Committee. And we learn from our communication partners how to reach
more and more people who need information from year
to year. However we know only too well that more
still needs to be done.
3.
Today’s presentation of our Annual Report
2006/2007 will outline our work in the past year and profile highlights, broad
themes and key initiatives.
I.
Expanding Access to
The State of the Nation Address by the President of SA
4.
During the period under review GCIS expanded its
contribution to government’s annual multimedia mass campaign to
extend access to information about the Programme
of Action outlined in the State of the Nation Address. Some five million simplified
versions of the Programme of Action were
produced, in all official languages, three million
of
which were distributed as inserts in Vuk’uzenzele magazine. The campaign
again
included
a five-part radio drama series, in all languages except
English, and a five episode photo-story published
in various newspapers.
Vuk’uzenzele
5.
The two-monthly government magazine Vuk’uzenzele
remains popular, with the demand
far surpassing the 1,2 million copies that are produced. The public response makes clear that the magazine is
meeting a public need in providing information on economic and other opportunities. Its real
stories of real people who have benefited from opportunities made possible by
government are warmly appreciated.
6.
In the period 2006/07 8, 9 million copies (in all
languages) were distributed through an
external distribution agency and through GCIS
provincial access points and other points of presence. Letters to
the editor, phone calls and research tell us that more and
more people would like to receive copies. We have therefore initiated a
campaign encouraging people to share the magazine and the information, and do
what can be done to disseminate its content through other platforms.
7.
The on-line version of the magazine allows citizens
with internet access to read it. The 600 Braille copies of
the magazine that are
printed per edition are distributed
to organisations for the blind and individual subscribers.
Vuk’uzenzele
is now registered with the Audit Bureau
Circulation (ABC) which will give industry standing to the circulation
numbers.
Second economy communication
8.
The Second
Economy communication campaign supported by
the Economic Cluster of the Forum
of South African Directors –General went
through its second
year.
This included
a new edition of the core publication
which is disseminated
through workshops and the television series “Azishe Ke!”
done in
partnership with the public broadcaster
in January 2007, the
campaign included a train the trainer component
which will enable government to have
a pool of trainers in the provinces.
The approach to this year’s campaign
is being informed by research
done after last year’s campaign, on
public views about how the information was
communicated and what effects it had.
Thusong Service Centres
9.
The roll-out of Thusong Service
Centres (formerly
MPCCs) continued in the past year
and reached a total of 96
operational centres.
The Thusong Service Centres function as information hubs that
support local distribution points, referred to as Thusong
10.
Izimbizo
continue to give the public an effective two-way
communication platform. They give direct public
access both
to government information.
They allow communities to hold government
accountable. They
provide opportunities to forge
partnerships between government and communities
to accelerate delivery. The two National Imbizo
Weeks were
interspersed with the
izimbizo by the President and Deputy
President as well as many other izimbizo conducted by
members of the executive in all spheres.
Some headway is being made in improving
coordination
of information from these izimbizo
through an interactive database, although the
emphasis remains on ensuring practical response to issues raised at the point
nearest to those affected.
Bua News
11.
The government’s news service BuaNews continues to expand
and make an impact nationally and internationally. Visits to the BuaNews website continues to
increase, as is the utility of stories in the mainstream media. Regular foreign users of BuaNews include
People’s Daily online in
An impact assessment survey conducted in 2006 showed
respondents to be positive towards BuaNews which they considered to be an
informative, good quality and reliable government service.
Electronic
12.
As indicated last year we have improved the Batho
Pele Gateway Portal (www.services.gov.za) now offering content on
the portal in all 11 official languages. There is better access of
comprehensive government information on the internet. Approximately 1 640
documents from 2000 in 2005/06 and 5 634 speeches and statements from 5 038 in
2005/06 were added to the portal. Usage
statistics for the portal during the review period totalled 2 678 552. GCIS
still provides website support to other national departments and provinces.
II.BUILDING COMMUNICATION PARTNERSHIP
Our
work can only be successful through
strategic partnerships with the communities and other stakeholders whose
primary function is communication. GCIS has developed partnerships to extent
reach and to profile various programmes and campaigns. It is only by working with
sectors in our communities that we can heighten shared messages and enable
more people to access government information.
2010 FIFA World Cup
13.
GCIS and the IMC together provided a
joint secretariat for the 2010 National Communication Partnership, which has
grown
since its
launch in 2005 to include a network of more than
250 public and private sector communicators working together to take advantage
if the 2010 World Cup for the country and continent. A major milestone for the
Partnership was the hosting of its first annual conference in August 2006,
which will
be held each year until
2010. Much of the latter part of the
financial year was spent preparing for the establishment of a 2010 Project
Management Unit in GCIS to coordinate government 2010 communication, working
with the Organising Committee and the Partnership. The basic work was also done
on the design and development of the dedicated 2010 government website mutually
linked with FIFA’s website.
Partnership against HIV and AIDS –
14.
GCIS has worked closely with the
Department of Health and other stakeholders to consult and
coordinate communications around the HIV & AIDS
and STIs National Strategic Plan, 2007-2011. This work
included extensive interaction with communicators within South African National Aids Council
stakeholders and civil society organisations working in the field of HIV and
AIDS. This team comprises both government and civil
society communicators and will constitute
a communications team for the South African National Council on AIDS (SANAC).
16 Days of Activism for No Violence
Against Women and Children and the 365 Days Programme and National Action Plan
15.
The 16 Days of Activism for no violence
against women and children and the 365 day national action plan has drawn strong partnerships from civil society and the private sector,
coordinated by GCIS. The campaign has increased public awareness around the
violation of the rights of women and children; and to strengthened partnerships with various sectors of our society.
Transformation of the marketing, advertising and
communication industry
16.
The transformation of the marketing,
advertising and communication industry made good progress
during this reporting period. Through
the Monitoring and Steering Committee for the Marketing, Advertising and
Communication Industry, more industry organisations
were brought
into
the process
of developing a draft charter and scorecard for the industry.
The
draft charter and
scorecard will be presented to the Minster of Trade and Industry by the Minister in The
Presidency in the second half of 2007.
17.
Even while the charter process has
been going through all the necessary stages to give it standing, practical
steps have been taken to promote equity in the industry. Workshops
on guidelines for best practice for the procurement
of advertising
to facilitate participation
by emerging Black Economic Empowerment companies in government contracts
were held.
Promoting
effective and equitable adspend by government
18.
As part of government’s contribution
to transformation, equity in the distribution of government
advertising expenditure has
improved through the GCIS media bulk buying
facility, while
implementing the multimedia approach to campaigns.
19.
Our expenditure continues to support
placement of government communication on radio,
because of its greater reach, more than other media, while at the
same time allowing for diversified channels and media in order
to reach people through
their preferred platforms.
III.
IMPROVE
PERFORMANCE OF THE GOVERNMENT
COMMUNICATION SYSTEM
Building provincial and local
government communication
capacity
20.
As part of its mandate, and as
previously reported, GCIS is strengthening the communication
system
in the
provinces
and assisting in supporting the establishment
of
functioning communications units at local government. Working with
provinces, provincial core teams on local government
communication were established. The national
team constituting SALGA, the Department
of Provincial and Local Government (DPLG) and GCIS have developed a
training plan for district municipal communicators.
21.
SALGA, the DPLG, provincial
local government communication core teams and GCIS developed a funding proposal
for the establishment of communication units in local and district
municipalities to be phased in by 2014. By the end
of March2007, 27 District
Communication Fora were operational and 8 pending.
22.
Training of government
communicators is
central to improving
the skills within the system. The
GCIS so far placed forty (40)
students on the
Establishment of the Internal
Communicators Forum
23.
The Internal Communicator’s Forum was launched during the
year under review, in November 2006. The aim of the Forum is to allow
members from various government departments to share experiences and ideas in how best
to ensure that members of the civil service have the information they need to
be fully effective in implementing the Programme of Action and in
facilitating public access to government services and the opportunities created
by government programmes.
Media briefings and liaison support
24.
Regular media briefings by Ministers
and senior officials have provided up to date and accurate information to the media
and the public. Through the briefings we
have also created opportunities for media to engage ministers and senior
officials on the government programme of action and other things related to
government work.
25.
The effectiveness of the government
wide communication system continues to receive special attention. Co-ordination mechanisms such as the
Government communicators Forum, the Pre-Cabinet meetings enable communicators
to plan together and share views on strategic communication issues. In the coming year GCIS will be paying
special attention to the capacity of departments and other spheres of
government to perform their communication functions.
26.
GCIS has supported communication liaison and participated
in multilateral and bilateral communication activities including the African
Union Summit in
Reviewing the communication system
27.
Nine years since GCIS was established, the
organisation has initiated a review of the government wide communication
system for whose development and maintenance it is responsible. The\objective is
to consolidate
areas
of strength and improve where weaknesses are
identified.
28.
The review will be done by an external service provider to
be appointed through an open tender process, overseen by
a reference group composed of a range of communicators mainly from outside of
government. The outcomes will further inform our Corporate Strategy for 2008 -2011
V.
ADMINISTRATION
Matters of Governance
29.
This year our report from the Auditor General was yet
unqualified with only two matters raised relating to
our reporting which was not aligned to our Corporate Strategy and ENE. These issues have
been addressed by integrating our strategic objectives
with the indicators under which we report to treasury.
VI.
Financial
Management
31.
Of
the R294, 580 million budget allocated for 2006/07,
99.5% (R293, 108 million) was spent - resulting
R1, 472 million (0, 5%) unspent.
32.
Originally GCIS was allocated R288
037 000 for the 2006/07 financial year.
R6 543 000 additional funds was
allocated during the adjustment estimate
with the breakdown as follows:
· R4,422
million was rolled over from the 2005/06 financial year in respect of the
printing and distribution of the Vuk'uzenzele magazine (arising
from the fact that the timing of decision to allocate funds for the
establishment of Vuk’uzenzele left
insufficient time to use the allocation during the first financial year).
· R300 000
was received as sponsorships in respect of the Government Communicators' Awards.
· R1,821
million as projected income generated by the sale of advertising space in the Vuk'uzenzele
magazine that would be used for printing and distribution
of more copies of the magazine.
VII.
Human
Resources
34.
The total staff complement at the financial
year end was 427. Of those 2.1% were people with disabilities, against a target of 2%
Fig 2.
Staff breakdown
|
|
Asian |
African |
Coloured |
White |
|
Actual |
2.8% |
76.3% |
9.4% |
11.5% |
|
Target |
2.6% |
74.3% |
8.5% |
14.6% |
|
Total |
African |
||
|
Male |
Female |
Male |
Female |
|
47.5% |
52.5% |
50% |
50% |
VIII.
CONCLUSION
35. GCIS
conducted its work during 2006/07 and fulfilled its mandate in
accordance with the strategic plan presented to this committee at the beginning
of the period under review.
36. Our core
mandate is to sustain and strengthen a government communication system that can
keep
the public informed and build an empowered citizenry. To this end GCIS will
continue to explore and extend platforms through which
people prefer to get information about government programmes they can
use to change their lives.
37. We however
continue to face challenges with respect to cascading an effective
communication system to the local government sphere, we are aware of
the need to accelerate training of communicators. We are also engaged in a
review of the system to improve and strengthen areas of weakness.
38. Through the
communication partnerships to expand access to information; the priority is to heighten awareness
of these
programmes amongst the most marginalised; and through the
broader message of partnership, GCIS seeks to answer the call to promote a national
effort to build a better life for all.
END
Themba
Maseko
CEO: GCIS
.