Department of Communications and GCIS Annual Performance Plans, with Deputy Minister

Meeting report

The Chairperson acknowledged the presence of Deputy Minister of Communications, Ms Tandi Mahambehlala, and congratulated her on behalf of the Committee on her recent appointment.

Ms P Van Damme (DA) expressed her displeasure at the Minister’s absence. She said this was the second meeting the Minister had missed and there was need for the Minister to prioritise Committee proceedings. She acknowledged that the Minister was having discussions with the public through radio interviews but had to engage the Committee as well.

Mr M Gungubele (ANC) said the spirit of Ms Van Damme’s comment was correct.

Committee Content Advisor analysis of Department and GCIS Annual Performance Plans
Mr Mbo Maleka, Committee Content Advisor, took the Committee through an analysis of the Annual Performance Plans of the Department of Communications and Government Communication and Information System.

He highlighted that the Department had set itself three strategic goals. These being: developing an overarching communications and broadcasting policy and strategy, information dissemination and publicity to promote an informed citizenry, and branding South Africa abroad to assist the country promote investments, economic growth and job creation.

Mr Maleka outlined issues the Committee should consider in relation to the Department:
• In the event that the Constitutional Court ruled in favour of eTV, what was the Department’s plan to mitigate the implications of that ruling on Broadcasting Digital Migration policy and the ongoing roll out?
• What was the current status of the investigation into the procurement process of set-top boxes? 
• How much was needed for the full implementation of the digital migration programme?
• What was the status of litigation by SOS Coalition on the Broadcasting Amendment Bill?
• What was the Department’s plan in ensuring that the recommendations of the Ad hoc Committee on SABC Board Inquiry are implemented?

He noted that delays in full implementation of the digital migration programme had a negative impact on the availability of spectrum and as a result, community media particularly broadcast community media was being affected. This posed a threat to the Department’s transformation agenda and universal access to broadcasting services. 

He advised that the Department’s sub-programme relating to risk management must factor in how the sharing of office space with GCIS poses a significant risk to document management. The availability or non-availability of space was a security risk as protecting classified information could be compromised.

Mr Maleka said the Department’s performance indicator relating to “number of community radio stations provided with broadcasting infrastructure and Media Development and Diversity mandate” was put on hold pending the finalisation of the Audio-Visual White Paper.

Issues for the Committee to consider about the GCIS APP were the absence of a coherent community media framework to promote the participation of all communities in the national discourse; lack of coherent and unified government communication through all spheres of government serving citizens - this was demonstrated by different messages shared by government departments and the Presidency during the SASSA debacle; a lack of confidence in government by citizens, which poses a challenge for government communication; as well as falling advertising revenues with implications on the quality of media newsrooms and media associations/lobby groups.

Department of Communications (DOC) Annual Performance Plan presentation
Deputy Minister Tandi Mahambehlala, in her opening remarks, said the Department was in the process of making permanent appointments on posts occupied by personnel in acting capacities.

Ms Basani Baloyi, DOC Acting Director-General, took the Committee through a presentation on the Department’s Annual Performance Plan for 2017/18.

She said the Department reviewed the Annual Performance Plan (APP) to reflect the current service delivery and organisational environment. The Department, in 2015, started an extensive drive towards distribution and installation of Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) Set-Top-Boxes (STBs) and related devices, and subsequent to that, the South African Post Office (SAPO) started generating statistics for registrations, distributions and installations of devices to consumers.

A proactive, aggressive door-to-door registration and installation campaign was embarked upon in April 2016 to cover and clear analogue transmissions in the core towns of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA): Brandvlei (Hantam Local Municipality); Williston (Karoo Hoogland Local Municipality); Carnarvon, and Vanwyksvlei (Kareeberg Local Municipality) and Vosburg. Remarkable progress was realised through this proactive approach and as such, DOC aimed to institutionalise it as the de facto approach for the national STB roll-out programme.

Ms Baloyi pointed out that the DTT programme had commenced in other provinces where 36 840 registrations have been successfully recorded in four provinces (Northern Cape, Mpumalanga, Free State and Limpopo). However, the lack of funding for public awareness and contact centres still remained a huge challenge.

She identified the need to train qualified installers in underserviced areas to service their communities after the DTT and Direct-to-Home (DTH) STBs installation period, as this will help create job opportunities in economically depressed areas. The main objective was to train artisans and customer care officers/consultants to support the government programme of switching over from the current analogue TV to digital broadcast. Further, DTT installer training programme funding was targeting about 2 800 beneficiaries from the local municipalities across the country, specifically rural and underserviced areas.

On Audio-Visual and Digital content, she pointed out that the South African audio-visual sector continues to have a ripple effect, where adjacent industries such as tourism, hospitality and equipment vendors also benefitted in the production value chain. The ripple effect also contributed to job creation and economic growth.

The Department’s audio-visual and digital content strategy provides collaborative measures to increase content output, inclusion of rural communities and SMMEs in the production cycle, lowering of barriers of entry to the content development sector, e-literacy skills development, funding schemes, marketing and exportation of South African audio-visual digital content.

She highlighted deliverables that will be implemented in the provinces. These include five stakeholder consultations on the White Paper on Audio-Visual and Digital Content, five provincial consultations on the Media Transformation and Diversity Policy, ten DTT awareness programmes to be coordinated in all nine provinces, and analogue signal switch-offs in 88 borderline towns within seven provinces. Also, Department entities will be implementing various deliverables in the provincial space.

Ms Baloyi noted the Department’s staff establishment as at 31 March 2017. DOC had 374 approved posts, with only 90 posts being funded - of the 90, only 76 were filled. She noted that the Department had since advertised positions that were occupied by personnel in acting capacities. She emphasised that financial constraints were the main challenge that confronted the Department and there was no funding to fill all the posts currently.

Ms Dikeledi Thindisa, DOC Chief Financial Officer, outlined the Department’s budget allocations. Budget allocation over the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) period 2017/18 to 2019/20 was expected to increase steadily, from R1.43 billion in 2017/18 to R1.61 billion in 2019/20. The bulk of the budget for 2017/18 was dedicated for administrative purposes, mainly towards transfers and subsidies.

Discussion
Mr R Tseli (ANC) appreciated the presentations. He sought clarity on what the Content Advisor meant by “lack of confidence by citizens in government, which poses a challenge for government communication”. He felt the Content Advisor presentation should have highlighted how the Department utilises funds allocated to it by Treasury. He noted that, in many cases, entities complained about inadequate funding when in actual fact their utilisation of funds was questionable.

He pointed out the Department’s shareholder compacts and accountability instruments. It was the Committee’s responsibility to carry out oversight of the Department and its entities. However, shareholder compacts were not provided to the Committee by the Department, to enable the Committee to carry out its oversight mandate more effectively.

He noted consequence management as it related to entities under the Department’s purview. He asked what instruments were available to the Department to address its entities missing set targets.

Mr Tseli said the underfunding had to be dealt with. He indicated that the Committee had a set of proposals and was in the process of seeking engagements with Treasury to ensure that adequate funds were availed to the Department and its entities.

He asked what the Department meant by “unfunded posts” in its staff establishment. He asked if these posts were approved without financial allocations.

He asked if the Department was going to do better in meeting targets moving forward, especially targets for digital migration.

The Deputy Minister replied that DOC’s oversight mandate of its entities was being carried out. She pointed out that she had already met with various entities under the Department after her appointment. The formulation of terms of references was underway and the Department was going to furnish the Committee with the output.

Ms Basani Baloyi replied that the Department was happy to share the accountability instruments used to oversee entities with the Committee. As soon as the Minister and entities agreed on the terms, the documents would be provided to the Committee.

On “unfunded posts”, she said the Department found itself in an uncomfortable position where it would submit structures for approval - and the structures would be approved but no funds availed for the posts. 

She emphasised that issues around funding were the main challenge in achieving targets, especially on digital migration.

Ms Mathope Thusi, Chief Director: Corporate Services, added that the filling of posts was approved by the Department of Public Service and Administration but funding was not availed. Most of the junior posts were not going to be filled due to financial constraints.

Dr Fhatuwani Mutuvhi, Chief Director: Broadcasting Digital Migration, pointed out that the migration from analogue to digital was consumer-driven. It required extensive and focused public awareness and consumer support for it to be effective. The lack of resources was a debilitating factor. Without funding, it was difficult for timelines to be met. DOC had approached the Minister to ask for support to spearhead imbizo campaigns. He appealed to the Committee to assist in acquiring adequate funds to capacitate digital migration.

The Deputy Minister added that funding was not the only challenge in meeting the DTT deadlines. She said the Department had to appraise the Committee that the Universal Service and Access Agency of South Africa (USAASA) had cancelled digital-to-home boxes manufacturers’ contracts.

Ms Baloyi agreed with the Deputy Minister that challenges went beyond the inadequacy of funds. She remarked that USAASA had cancelled and suspended contracts of most digital-to-home boxes manufacturers after identifying supply chain management irregularities. An investigation through National Treasury was instituted. Also, litigation processes that subsequently followed would lead to further delays in meeting digital migration timelines. The Department was in the process of engaging Treasury in an effort to deal with the issues.

Ms N Tolashe (ANC) asked about the implications of USAASA contracts cancellation and suspensions and how they were going to be dealt with. She said a departmental report had to be tabled before the Committee.

She said positions within the Department ought to be filled permanently. A situation where acting personnel were making decisions without taking responsibility was uncalled for.

She emphasised the need for a joint meeting with Treasury and the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation. DOC had to be assisted as its actual mandates were not funded - it was not fair to have the Department struggling as if it established itself. Little was going to be achieved without adequate financial resources. She added that there should be no excuses in as far as the monitoring of entities, to ensure they performed accordingly.

The Chairperson agreed that there was an urgent need for stakeholders to get together to address the challenges experienced by the Department.

Mr Tseli asked for the Content Advisor’s evaluation on the Department’s utilisation of funds.

Mr Maleka replied that their evaluations relied on feedback received from the Department. Given the context and capacity the content advisory had, it was almost impossible to track utilisation of funds independently. However, in future, content advisory will do a comparative analysis of current and previous year expenditures.

Mr M Gungubele (ANC) pointed out the need for “multilingual accommodation” during presentations - the accommodation of diverse perspectives in society. He remarked that Members as politicians were interested in hearing about tangible results around plurality and media diversity, that would be reported on in communities. He remarked that the presentation dealt mostly with the internal life of the Department whereas people on the ground had little interest about PR issues and audit plans. Members, as politicians, wanted to hear more about ultimate outcomes that could be reported on in their constituencies.

He expressed concern on the long time frames DOC sets for itself to achieve targets. He pointed out the four year time frame set for the implementation of a mooted Audio-Visual and Digital Content Act. People were waiting for reforms and they ought to be done expeditiously. He asked if procurement plans were planned anew every year or updated.

Mr Sandile Nene, Advisor to the Minister of Communications, replied that DOC followed Treasury’s reporting and presentation template. Treasury’s reporting template required that the internal life of a department such as PR plans be presented. In future presentations before the Committee, it would consider shaving off such details and correct the packaging to enable Members to do their work effectively. He agreed it was going to take long to address matters of policy in the broadcasting and digital terrain.

Ms Baloyi added that there were specific deliverables that the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) expected from departmental Annual Performance Plans. However, Members’ concerns were acknowledged and DOC would prioritise issues the Committee would want to hear about.

The Chairperson remarked that it was acknowledged that DOC was tied in terms of the reporting format. He pointed out that presentations ought to reflect upon expectations of communities out there.

Mr Gungubele said that he understood issues around compliance. He added that it was important to discern and categorise relevant issues to be reported on.

Ms Tolashe commended DOC for being able to conduct outreach programs in the form of imbizos notwithstanding provincial representation that matched other departments. She emphasised the need for all provinces to be covered in equal measure.

Ms Van Damme (DA) noted that the main theme of DOC was the need for more money. She said it had to be more creative as everyone had to tighten belts and austerity measures be put in place due to recent downgrades by rating agencies - there was no time for luxuries such as the acquisition of new vehicles. DOC had to cut costs as Treasury may not be in a position to avail more funds to the Department. She added that she did not see what DOC needed additional funds for.

She pointed out that DOC mentioned media transformation as part of its objectives. She asked what DOC wanted to see after media transformation and how media transformation would be achieved.

She asked for an update on various litigations such as the digital migration litigation in the Constitutional Court. She asked if DOC was still going to challenge the SABC Inquiry report as initially indicated.

She asked what the proposed Audio-Visual and Digital Content Bill sought to achieve.

Ms V Van Dyk (DA) remarked that issues around the distribution of set-top boxes were going to delay the switch-off date. She asked if DOC had immediate remedies to ensure deadlines were met. She asked how DOC was going to deliver on the community radio per province targets.

Mr L Mbinda (PAC) asked how positions were being approved without being budgeted for. He pointed out that the norm was approval of organograms after budget approvals.

The Deputy Minister responded to Ms Van Damme, saying DOC was not planning to purchase vehicles any time soon. As Deputy Minister, she was currently using vehicles that were deemed unsafe by governmental vehicle regulations - they had exceeded the stipulated mileage. Vehicles would be purchased only if funds permitted.

Ms Baloyi emphasised that DOC had huge financial constraints and was effectively cost-cutting. She said a report on cost-cutting measures was going to be tabled. .

She said DOC was still waiting for the finalisation of various litigations.

Ms Baloyi said the Audio-Visual and Digital Content Bill sought to address matters around the digitalisation of the broadcasting space and regulations incidental to the migration from analogue. It was also expected to deal with broadcasting coverage.

She outlined that DOC was still using the stock of set-top boxes sitting in the post offices for its digital migration drive as most of the set-top box suppliers’ contracts had been cancelled. DOC hoped that issues around the suppliers of set-top boxes would be resolved before the current stock ran out.

Ms Dikeledi commented on cost containment measures. She said DOC was one of the first to cut down on distribution of newspapers in the last financial year. Further, DOC cut cell phone allowance down from R3 500 to R1 200 per month, among other measures. She assured the Committee that finances were being spent judiciously.

She explained that HR structures were done before costing. The DPSA approved structures submitted to it although this did not mean that funds were available.

Mr Sandile Nene replied that papers challenging the SABC Inquiry report had been filed.

Ms Tolashe remarked that matters on litigation were dealt with extensively in the previous meeting and the Committee had agreed that the office of the Chairperson would liaise with the National Assembly and legal advisory on how to proceed on such matters.  

Afternoon session
GCIS Annual Performance Plan presentation
Mr Donald Liphoko, Acting Director-General: GCIS, took the Committee through a presentation on GCIS 2017/18-2019/20 Annual Performance Plan. In his opening remarks, he said GCIS and DOC were genuine in their desire to fill vacant positions.

He identified challenges and action plans to address the challenges currently affecting GCIS. Reprioritisation and improved efficiency from other departmental resources for priority interventions would seek to address challenges around limited fiscal resources in a constrained budget environment. Increased demand for government communication in a dynamic democracy as a challenge, would be addressed by re-evaluating the government communication approach, platforms and language mix. Also, GCIS would strive to communicate honestly as a means of addressing issues around public perceptions on government performance.

Mr Liphoko highlighted GCIS strategic risks during the MTEF period. Risks include inability to provide relevant information to targeted audiences due to content not supplied timeously by client departments, limited resources, products and platforms not aligned to targeted audiences and limited use of platforms. However, GCIS sought to apply a segmented approach to all audiences, and collaborate with other government departments on campaigns as a means of mitigating the strategic risks.

GCIS found it difficult to set precise targets and baselines around communication projects because it was difficult to make projections on government campaigns as the communication landscape was very dynamic.

Mr Hennie Bekker, Acting Chief Financial Officer: GCIS, highlighted that total expenditure estimates for MTEF period 2017/18 was R405 million, with the main cost driver being compensation of employees as GCIS work is labour intensive.

Discussion
Mr Tseli commented that having coordinated messages from government departments was important. The risk of having uncoordinated messages when South Africa has one government was problematic. He asked if Thusong service centres were effective and how GCIS was monitoring their work.

He asked if GCIS replicated its services down to municipal levels. He asked for clarity on the GCIS link with Brand South Africa.

He asked why GCIS was releasing the Public Sector Manager (PSM) magazine once in two years. Budget constraints were acknowledged but the understanding was that the media space was dynamic and changing, and it would have been nobler to publish the magazine more often.

Mr Tseli commented that there were discussions around departments not giving support to community radios, in a previous meeting. Departments were relying on GCIS newspapers to disseminate information that could be best disseminated through advertisements in community radios. He asked if GCIS saw itself as a role player in giving necessary support to community radios.

Ms Van Damme commended the marked improvement in the way GCIS communicated with the public, through radio interviews and social media platforms. She expressed concern on the handling of government communications. Messages from government did not seem to be coordinated and spokespeople were in the habit of damaging government’s reputation. She asked if GCIS had plans of instituting a coordinated reporting line that would enable government to speak with one voice.

She asked if the Vuk’uzenzele newspaper had significant value. She felt that it was ineffective.

Ms Van Damme asked if government advertising especially through print media went via GCIS. She felt that a lot of money was being spent on advertisements not specifically designed to communicate government messages in the print media space.

She asked if there was coordination to ensure that entities such as municipalities advertised in local community media platforms as a way of supporting them.

Ms Van Dyk asked GCIS to articulate its strategies towards lending support to community radio stations.

Ms Tolashe commented that she got a sense GCIS was working on the coordination of government communications. She asked GCIS to shed more light on this. She expressed concern that GCIS messages around pertinent issues in the country, such as the drought spell, were not coherent. Communications were left to individual municipalities and provinces, whose messages were, by and large, sparse.

She asked how GCIS could ensure that government policies were effectively communicated and distributed. The media space on government policies has been usurped by some opportunistic elements thereby leading to negative perceptions about government.

She commended the Deputy Minister for committing herself to filling vacant posts within DOC and its entities, currently occupied by personnel in acting capacities.

The Chairperson encouraged GCIS to keep on exploring and utilising avenues where information can be effectively disseminated to the public.

The Deputy Minister remarked that she resonated with most of the issues raised by Members. She commented that GCIS was present at local government level, but not popular. Some of the officials in local governments did not even know about GCIS. GCIS had to be proactive in ensuring that communicators in municipalities were empowered and that government communications were coordinated in general.

To ensure that government communication cuts across the literacy divide, GCIS had to utilise community radio stations effectively, and they had to be paid on time by government for their services. She cited cases where government departments entered into advertising arrangements with community radio stations but they did not get paid - which was a challenge for community radio stations; they had to be paid timeously.

Mr Liphoko commented that engagements with the Deputy Minister had been quite helpful in improving GCIS service delivery. GCIS held a meeting with the South African Local Government Association (SALGA) two years back to explore ways to strengthen communication at local government level. GCIS and SALGA working together would bring about significant changes within the government communication landscape.

GCIS was not able to account for the money spent by government departments in the dissemination of information outside the GCIS framework. It was doable, but required additional resources as the services would have to be outsourced.

On why GCIS was not able to get government departments to increase advertising spend on community radios, he said current allocation was around 15% (approx. R30 million per annum), against the 30% the Committee intended GCIS to meet. There was a gap and the mechanics around doubling the commitment to local media platforms was the challenge.

Mr Bekker commented on advertising spend. The current system involved each government department being allocated an advertising budget. However, GCIS had no control over how those advertising budgets were used - the current system prevented them having authority over the budgets.

Ms Tasneem Carrim, GCIS Acting Deputy Director-General: Content Processing and Dissemination, replied that coherence in government communication was an elusive objective, but GCIS continued to chase it nonetheless. GCIS has very little control over government communicators and what they say. There may be a need to rethink legislation around GCIS roles, with the assistance of the Committee. GCIS since 2008 formulated and adopted guidelines on government communication and these guidelines had to be made binding regulations.

She indicated that a robust communications policy was at an advanced stage and GCIS was in the process of tabling it before Cabinet during the previous Minister’s tenure. However, the guidelines were not expected to enable GCIS to rein in on government communicators entirely as there were a lot of dynamics at play.

On Mr Tseli’s question about what the Content Advisor meant about lack of confidence in the government by the public, Ms Carrim highlighted that the public has lost trust in many institutions the world over. South Africa was not a unique case. Public perceptions were a mixed bag and South Africans well appreciated efforts being made by the government, particularly in areas of welfare, health and education.

Ms Carrim highlighted that GCIS developed its own segmentation model of government which was built on what the Living Standards Measure used to do. The crux was to build a product that spoke uniquely to this model and GCIS acknowledged that community radios must be utilised as they have an extensive reach, especially in rural areas.

She said the increase in the frequency of Vuku’zenzele newspaper publication was self-funded. Advertising revenue from government departments enabled GCIS to increase the frequency of issuing the newspaper. Further, GCIS was working towards having it in electronic copies as research indicated that the newspaper was very popular.

She explained that the idea of issuing the Public Sector Manager magazine was to help in empowering managers within government spaces. Research indicated that people were not happy with the content and GCIS was working on making improvements. The value add was that GCIS was not paying anything to publish the magazine.

Mr Tseli emphasised that GCIS was not utilising community radio stations in engaging with the public and it was not assisting. Further, saying there was lack of confidence in government by the public was worrisome as there was no tangible evidence to that effect.

The Chairperson agreed that there were no supporting documents to give credence to GCIS claims on public perceptions around the workings of government.

The Deputy Minister felt that the Committee was being unfair to GCIS on supporting and capacitating community radio stations. The Media Development and Diversity Agency was vested with the responsibility to promote community media sectors, not GCIS.

Ms Carrim replied that there was empirical evidence in support of the GCIS statement on public perceptions. GCIS conducts continuous surveys (tracker) on public perceptions since 2000. GCIS interviewed 2 400 people per quarter and it felt the methodology was robust and unquestionable. She explained that GCIS did not mean there was no confidence in government, but there were a motley of opinions and GCIS would indulge the Committee on the issue if need be.

Mr Keitumetse Semakane, Chief Director: Corporate Services, commented on one of the vacant posts within GCIS. The official occupying the Chief Director: Products and Platforms position at GCIS was seconded to the Office of the Deputy President two years back. The post could not be filled as DPSA regulations stipulated that an official on secondment could not be replaced by an individual receiving full payment, as the post was not technically vacant. He added that the situation was impacting negatively on GCIS operations and it was looking into correcting the situation.

Ms Geraldine Thopps, Acting Chief Director: Provincial and Local Liaison, said GCIS was having problems with the functionality and effectiveness of Thusong service centres. To date, there were 198 of them and GCIS was doing audits and site assessments to ensure they were working within the regulatory framework. Assessments identified that some government entities were leaving Thusong centres, thus reducing their functionality. It was further identified that Thusong service centres run by offices of the premier had a lot of problems. She said a report was being compiled from the assessments made in three provinces so far, and would be made available soon.

The meeting was adjourned.