Government Communication & Information System, International Marketing Council, Media Diversity Development Agency: briefing on

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Communications and Digital Technologies

08 March 2005
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COMMUNICATIONS PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE
8 March 2005
GOVERNMENT COMMUNICATION AND INFORMATION SYSTEM, INTERNATIONAL MARKETING COUNCIL, MEDIA DIVERSITY DEVELOPMENT AGENCY: BRIEFING ON STRATEGIC PLANS AND BUDGETS

Chairperson

Mr M Lekgoro

Documents handed out:
 

GCIS Strategic Plan 2005-2008
International Marketing Council Strategic Plan 2005
MDDA Presentation on Strategic Plan 2005-2008

GCIS website
Media Development and Diversity Agency website
International Marketing Council website
SA Web portal
www.safrica.info website had reached 2 million page views a month and over 9 million hits a month.

Ms K Mkonza (Chairperson: MDDA) replied that when an application was submitted, they checked its business plan and if it was a registered entity, thereafter MDDA looked at funding options. If the business plan did not make sense, a mentor would be appointed to help that organisation in compiling a proper business plan and training.

Mr Netshitenzhe agreed with Ms Vos that the IMC should utilise the Pan African Parliament (PAP). Members who take part in the PAP should be goodwill ambassadors. The GCIS had seconded an official to the PAP to develop a communication strategy for the PAP.

Ms D Smuts asked what percentage of the budget increase would go to GCIS’s obligations in terms of the Promotion of the Access to Information Act. What was the exact role of the CDW and how did they differ from communication officers. Who would fund the GCIS information serials on TV and who would control the editorial content. What had happened to the GCIS studio, and what happened to the pre-produced radio programmes, had they ever been broadcast?

Ms I Mackay Langa (GCIS Deputy CEO: Centralised Service) replied that communication officers were responsible for providing information to the community and work with various structures around information provision. CDW 's role was around bringing services to the people. for an example when a person wants to apply for an ID document, CDW would facilitate the application on the spot.using a lap top.

Mr T Trew (GCIS Deputy CEO: Strategy & Content Management) replied that the GCIS had been producing programmes and distributing them to community stations to be played. The GCIS and partners would be covering the production costs of the information serials. The SABC would pay for the airtime

Mr Netshitenzhe replied that the SABC had asked the GCIS what role was the SABC supposed to play. Radio Phalaphala had already been airing programmes about economic opportunities available for people in that area. He did not have at hand the amount dedicated to the Promotion of Access to Information Act but this would be made later to the Committee.

Mr Mohlaloga asked what the IMC had done to harness the potential of the on-board SAA magazine Sawubona. What type of packages were prepared for outgoing South African travellers? What was done to attract FDI from African countries, there had been a lot of business relations between SA and our continental counterparts like Angola. Why had the IMC not been using the GCIS studios to make programs which could be flighted at places such as post offices and train stations? What had been done by the GCIS to utilise community radio stations? He suggested that the GCIS should display a photograph of the President in all government buildings.

Ms I Mackay Langa answered that the GCIS had noted the need for government to place the coat of arms and the photograph of the President and relevant ministers photograph in all government buildings. They would also use CCTV in government buildings such as South African Revenue Service offices to communicate messages.

Ms Johnston replied that SAA had begun to play South African music, what was needed was an upgrade of the sound system so that passengers could listen to clear sounds. The IMC had been persuading SAA to train their service crew around the theme of "alive with possibilities" because they were the first impression when visitors came to the country. The IMC had held strategic think tank sessions with Ms Lizeka Mda, editor of Sawubona magazine, which had facilitated the monthly supply of news from the IMC. There had been a suggestion of a regular IMC column which would highlight positive facts about South Africa. SAA had taken 100 000 copies of the "South African Story" and added four pages of their own story about SAA's 70th anniversary with their logo and handed these out. SAA would set up adverts in London taxis as done previously which would contain the IMC message along with SAA logo or even the Wine industry logo and that would increase visibility of the South African brand. Africa was definitely on the radar screen, for an example Angolan tourists were the highest per capita spenders in South Africa beating even Germans. The IMC had been working with Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries in formulating a uniform strategy for the region. More than 43 radio stations were spreading the positive messages about the country.

Mr Oliphant (ANC) asked what had been happening to transformation in the advertising industry. What was the difference between learnerships and internships? Why had the IMC rolled over funds of up to R6.7million? Why did the IMC allocate half a million rand to African missions? How did the IMC equip outgoing travellers to foreign lands? He asked for a profile of the MDDA projects and bursaries and how had the GCIS met their BEE targets in procurement?

Ms Mackay Langa replied that the difference between learnership and internship was that internships were run by the GCIS. Interns were students who needed the working experience in order to qualify for their studies. The learnership programme was run by the AAA School of Advertising together with the GCIS. Only ten applicants had been taken from 1 500 applicants. She said that the BEE information would be provided to the Committee after the meeting. The GCIS had been using preferential procurement and they had a database of suitable suppliers.

Mr Netshitenzhe added that private companies would simply claim from the Sector Education and Training Authority (SETA) funds to facilitate learnerships. Government does not contribute to those resources, that meant that the GCIS had to wait for their budget allocation. The management of GCIS had discovered that they themselves needed to be trained on mentorship in line with formal qualifications that were recognised by the industry.

Mr Trew replied that the advertising and marketing industry had been going faster than the rest and question was whether they should register a scorecard or not. In the final analysis the decision was taken on making a broad, all-encompassing scorecard.

Ms Johnston noted that the IMC were a very new organisation, with only nine months of being a stand-alone entity, therefore the Council was still finding its feet. They were not well versed in the workings of the Public Finance Management Act, hence the rollover. For 2004 the IMC had had a clean audit, the board had increased their financial know how. The objective of the Council was to fine tune the public relations machinery that would be circulated to key African media. The country managers were always at hand to help ambassadors to convey a holistic message about South Africa. When the President was interviewed by the Financial Times, the IMC had ensured that the media had been briefed before the interview.

Mr Khumalo (ANC) asked the IMC what outcomes they envisaged from their global targeting. How did they utilise the number of international conferences happening in South Africa? How did the IMC relate to the Proudly South African Campaign? What was the meaning of the amplification of domestic penetration? How was their Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) procurement strategy?

Ms Johnston replied that it was difficult to clearly point out how much was spent on international and domestic markets. For example, was the web portal domestic or international? Adverts in The Economist Magazine had also reached South African subscribers. Domestic amplification meant using other people’s events to leverage spend. For an example all people who had to speak at the Women’s Golf World Cup were trained as brand ambassadors to convey IMC messages. The event was not an IMC event but it was used effectively to convey the message. The same would happen with the 2010 World Cup The Proudly South African Campaign was a key stakeholder in the IMC. The Council had been striving successfully to be an example of employment equity and their staff was reflective of South African society. Procurement of services focussed on companies that were compliant with the laws of the country. Even desks were made of South African cherry wood. The tender process clearly stipulated that companies had to present their BEE compliance as was reflected in the IMC database. The computer systems supplier was 100% BEE compliant. She emphasised that IMC should be an example of "everything South African".

Ms P Mokoto (ANC) enquired about the IMC transformation scorecard compliance. What relationship was there among national, provincial, and local levels of government in relation to the MPCCs. What had been the response of local business people to the IMC campaigns? How did the CDW relate to youth workers? Why was the Qaukeni MPCC was not functioning? What were brand ambasadors?

Ms Mackay replied that all MPCCs had been built by the Department of Public Works, but the relationship between the three spheres of government was still under discussion. The was a concerted effort to co-ordinate and integrate participation of the Provincial and the National govt. For an example the Premier of Gauteng had a base station in the MPCCs. The problems at the Qaukeni MPCC were being addressed, but there were political problems in that area that needed to be sorted out.

Mr Netshitenzhe replied that was a need for national government departments to approach the National Treasury with a uniform strategy for MPCCs. National Treasury had to ring-fence MPCC funding. The Department of Service and Administration would deal with that relationship. The National Youth Commission was responsible for the recruitment of youth workers who would deal with youth issues.

Ms Johnston emphasised again that the IMC had been successful in its aim to be an example on the matter of employment equity, the staff was reflective of the South African Society. All staff recruitment adverts had always this clear. To measure the domestic support by the business fraternity was a bit difficult, but there were sixteen websites which featured the words "alive with possibilities" either in the heading or in their the reports. When the IMC took 42 South Africans last year to the United States, nearly every presentation used the phrase "alive with possibilities". From a branding perspective the IMC was dealing with a twenty year programme, therefore it had been slowly begun to be part of everyday conversations. Brand ambassadors were the people like Baby Jake Matlala who reflect success stories of South Africans.

The Chairperson asked how community radio stations were assisted in reaching sustainability. Why were community radio stations not using role models such as Tim Modise who could offer mentorship?

Ms Mkhonza replied that no influential personalities had offered to help community radio stations, but when people would avail themselves, the MDDA would look into it. If some of those personalities were employed by the MDDA funders such as Primedia, then the MDDA would enter into negotiations with funders. The MDDA supported community media in the form of salaries for programme and station manager, to develop marketability and sustainability.

Mr Pieterse asked why do black community radio stations battled all the time while white community stations were well funded. What was the GCIS position on employing people with disability.


Ms Mkhonza replied that some stations were not properly organised and they did not stick to the business plan. Toolkits would be developed to support all community media. The MediaShop was offering learner-ships.

Mr Trew urged the MDDA to mobilise resources other than money, such as the training that was initiated by the advertising industry. The value of that support was more valuable than money because it would ultimately lead to sustainability.

The meeting was adjourned.

 


SUMMARY
The Government Communication and Information System (GCIS), the Media Development and Diversity Agency (MDDA) and the International Marketing Council presented their strategic plans for the coming year and a progress report on what they had achieved over the past year. Members concerns included issues such as adhering to Black Economic Empowerment procurement, compliance with the requirements of Employment Equity, the role of the Community Development Workers and the concept of mentorships, internships and learnerships.

MINUTES
Government Communication and Information System (GCIS) briefing
Mr Joel Netshitenzhe, CEO: GCIS, briefed the Committee about the government's plans for promoting access to information. The public and the media had been enthusiastic in accessing the day to day happenings and assisting in the evaluation and monitoring of the government’s Programme of Action. This was in line with government’s promotion of partnership and participatory democracy.

The GCIS will partner with the International Marketing Council in formulating a strategy around the communication challenges of hosting the 2010 Soccer World Cup. Extra effort would be exerted to make sure that citizens would have access to information about economic opportunities. The GCIS would utilise the broadcasting fraternity and investigate the feasibility of a popular magazine, that would be used to disseminate information on economic opportunities. There was a tremendous need to improve the performance of the government communication system. That task would be accomplished by utilising the Government Communication & Marketing Academy. The CEO emphasised that all the efforts mentioned above would be ineffective without the co-operation of front office civil servants. (See document for details)

International Marketing Council (IMC) briefing
Ms Yvonne Johnston, CEO: IMC, explained that the IMC was started to send positive messages to the international audience especially the decision-makers in countries, which had Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). The Council had focused on the campaign "South Africa alive with possibilities". They had marketed South Africa at the World Economic Forum where a number of industrialists met and had placed adverts in Fortune and The Economist magazines, the adverts were about the achievements of the decade of democracy. She also highlighted employment equity balance of their staff component The IMC had had forged working relations with South Africa’s foreign missions abroad to formulate a coherent way of projecting South Africa. The IMC had a partnership with private sector organisations such as Cell C, Vodacom, and the Tata group of India – these partnerships would be beneficial for both parties.

Mr Kheepe Moremi, Marketing Director: IMC, said the IMC would be directing its resources to the global business community. On the domestic front, the Council had been working to reinforce patriotism, pride and optimism among the general public and mass media. The aforementioned plans emanated from the fact that South Africa had consistently performed below its potential in terms of foreign direct investment flows. Another goal was to increase the visibility and accessibility of the SA web portal. That would be done by maximising visibility on major search engines, online promotion of site, and create more links with other sites. The ultimate aim of the IMC was to attract trade, investment and tourism. That could only be achieved by co-ordinating similar efforts with provinces. (See document for details)

Media Development and Diversity Agency (MDDA) briefing
Mr Annand Chaytoo, CFO: MDDA said the MDDA was a development agency that aimed to build an environment where a diverse, vibrant and creative media reflects all South Africans. To achieve this, it assisted historically disadvantaged communities and persons in gaining access to the media. The MDDA funding for 2005-2006 was derived from the commercial media and a government grant. The money was not enough to cover all their activities and thus more funds would be sourced from other donors. The funding agreements had stipulated that no more than 10% of funds should be spent on administration and research. In the past financial year, the MDDA the board had approved 63 different media projects and three research projects. The MDDA had provided 28 bursaries to small commercial and community radio managers. There were more applications than the MDDA could support financially. The majority of the applications which were refused did not have a proper business plan or did not have a radio licence. A comprehensive database of mentors had been compiled to help in transmitting the wealth of experience to emerging media organisations. Research would be conducted into under-serviced communities such as the North West and the Northern Cape which had least number of applications for their media projects. (See document for details)

Discussion
Mr R Pieterse asked what was the relationship between the Community Development Workers (CDW) and the Multi-Purpose Community Centres (MPCC). What had the GCIS done to inform people who did not have access to electronic media.

Mr Netshitenzhe replied that radio covered 93% of the country, but there were areas where communities could not access electronic media because of mountains and other geographic hindrances. Resources had been allocated for the SABC to extend its radio and television coverage throughout the country.

Ms S Vos (IFP) recommended the utilisation of the Pan African Parliament to market South Africa. What was the progress with the SA dot com domain name? How did the MDDA measure the viability of their projects?

Ms Johnston replied that suggestions such as the one about the Pan African Parliament were welcome and should be emailed to the IMC. The IMC had written to the Communications Minister about the domain name but they had not heard back from her. The last development that the IMC had heard was that the price for the domain name had dropped significantly from $10 million to $1 million. Mr Valli Moosa who sat on the IMC board had urged the Council to buy it. The SA dot com domain name had value but the

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