Media Development & Diversity Agency, Government Communication & Information System & International Marketing Council: Annual Re

Meeting report

COMMUNICATIONS PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE
23 October 2007
MEDIA DEVELOPMENT AND DIVERSITY AGENCY, GOVERNMENT COMMUNICATION AND INFORMATION SYSTEM & INTERNATIONAL MARKETING COUNCIL: ANNUAL REPORTS & SHORTLISTING OF CANDIDATES FOR MDDA BOARD

Chairperson: Mr I Vadi (ANC)

Documents handed out:
Media Development and Diversity Agency (MDDA) Annual Report 2006/07[available shortly at www.mdda.org.za]
MDDA Presentation to Portfolio Committee on Communication
Interviews Programme: MDDA Board
Government Communication and Information System (GCIS) Annual Report 2006/07
GCIS Annual Report 2006/07 Presentation
GCIS Annual Report 2006/07 to Portfolio Committee on Communication submission
Summary and Analysis of the GCIS
Thusong Service Centres Government Publications and Business Plan 2006-2014
International Marketing Council (IMC) Annual Report ‘07[available shortly at www.imc.org.za]
IMC Presentation to Portfolio Committee on Communications [Part1][Part2][Part3][Part4]
IMC of SA Audited Annual Financial Statements For Year Ending 31 March 2007

Audio recording of meeting[Part1] [Part2]

SUMMARY
The committee discussed and agreed upon eight candidates for the shortlisted Media Development and Diversity Agency Board vacancies.

Government Communications and Information Systems presented their annual report to the Committee. It outlined the progress that they had made and stated that it aimed to meet the communication and information needs of the government and the public, and to provide leadership in government communication. Challenges included the need for improvements in an effective communication system to the local government sphere, the need to accelerate training of communicators, and a review of the system. Questions were asked on the lack of interest in imbizos, poor service at some centres, information on farm workers, the copies of the magazine, how far these were distributed, and the need for better communication via the magazine. Further questions were asked on outstanding debt and its recovery, the relationship with the Sunday Times, areas of research, and the vacancy rate.

The Media Development and Diversity Agency briefed the Committee on the Annual Report, focusing on the background to and work of the Agency, which was geared towards enabling media development and diversity, and increasing access of all citizens to a broader range of media. The grant application process was described. The financial statements were tabled, indicating a deficit in the financial year. Growth opportunities were also discussed. Challenges included the need to reach media neglected communities, especially rural areas, to focus on the capacity of sectors, irrelevant programming, and the lack of sustainability of some projects. Members raised questions on the project tracking system, the roll over of funds and the deficit, and research.

The International Marketing Council briefed the Committee on the challenges facing the Council, which related largely to the negative international perceptions around crime and safety in South Africa. It also was focusing on negative perceptions about 2010 readiness, labour laws and other challenges. Branding was an important issue both nationally and internationally and various opportunities were used to increase the brand. There was collaboration with government departments and partnerships were being developed. Provinces were also starting to market and promote themselves. The financial statements showed a clean audit. Challenges included inadequate monitoring controls but these were being addressed. Members discussed extensively the perceptions around crime, and how this could be addressed, with focus on the need to give correct information but to highlight the positive developments. They suggested marketing in Africa and Australia, raised queries on investment and the need to look to the East, and discussed the staffing situation, skills audits on foreigners coming into the country, and the salaries of country managers.

MINUTES
Government Communication and Information Systems (GCIS): Annual Report Briefing
Mr Themba Maseko, CEO: GCIS, presented the Annual Report to the committee. He informed members that the core mandate was to ensure that the public had access to information in a way that was convenient to them. This would include accessing information in the language they preferred and being able to utilise that information in a way that could improve their lives. MR Maseko told members that this was specifically aimed at the poor and that the GCIS wanted to expand and improve access to information, in particular in regard to the Programme of Action outlined in the State of the Nation Address. He informed members that five million copies of the Programme of Action were produced in all official languages and distributed in Vuk’uzenzele magazine.

He also spoke about Vuk’uzenzele, the popular government magazine. This magazine was meeting the public’s needs by informing them about economic and other opportunities. More people wanted access to this, and therefore the GCIS was initiating a campaign to encourage people to share the magazine and the information. The GCIS also initiated an on-line version of the magazine as well as copies printed in Braille.

Mr Maseko spoke about the Second Economy communication campaign. He said that the new edition included a “train the trainer” component, which would allow government to have a pool of trainers in the provinces.

There were now 96 operational Thusong Service Centres, which functioned as information hubs to support local distribution points. These Thusong Information Points included clinics, hospitals and shops. The aim was to reach communities in diverse and distant areas.

Mr Maseko said that the Imbizo programmes continued to give the public an effective two-way communication platform by giving direct access to government information. This allowed for government accountability. Improvements were being made for coordination of information through an interactive database.

The government news service, BuaNews, continued to expand and had made an impact nationally and internationally. Visits to the website had increased and the public had given positive feedback that it regarded BuaNews as informative and reliable. In addition, improvements in electronic information resources now allowed for online content in all eleven official languages. .

Mr Maseko noted that the GCIS would only be successful through strategic partnerships with the community and other stakeholders involved in communication. It had worked with the Department of Health on communication around HIV and AIDS, and other partnerships were addressing the 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children campaign, as well as the 365 Day Programme..

Mr Maseko focused on building Provincial and Local Government communication capacity by assisting in supporting the establishment of functioning communications units at local government, including training to government communicators to improve the skills within the system.

The Internal Communicator’s Forum was launched in 2006, and would allow members of various government departments to share experiences and ideas as to how members of the civil service could access information so that they could effectively implement the Programme of Action, as well as facilitate public access to government services.

Mr Maseko stated that regular briefings by ministers had provided up to date and accurate information to the media and public. The briefings had also created opportunities for the media to engage with officials. The GCIS has initiated a review of the government wide communication system with the view to strengthen and improve areas of weakness.

Mr Maseko then reported on matters of governance and highlights of the financial year 2006/07. The report from the Auditor General was unqualified and only two matters were raised for emphasis. Both had been addressed. The allocated budget was under spent by only 0.5%.
GCIS had exceeded targets in employing people with disabilities, Asians, Africans and Coloured people.

Finally Mr Maseko touched on challenges facing the GCIS. He said that improvements were needed in an effective communication system to the local government sphere. GSIC also needed to accelerate training of communicators. A review of the system was initiated to improve areas of weakness.

Discussion
Mr R Pieterse (ANC) commented on the lack of interest from certain groups in attending the Imbizos, and enquired why this was so.

Ms Baby Tyawa, Deputy CEO, GCIS, responded to issues concerning the Imbizos. She said that they had conducted research that had given a pointer to the issues. Some racial groups had complained that the venues were inconvenient. The youth said that the Imbizos tended to focus on the elderly, and therefore there was now more focus on the youth. GCIS was also looking at diversifying to attract other racial groups, business people and people with disabilities.

Mr Maseko commented that he did not see white people participating in events in general. He said that it was a challenge that GCIS would have to face and overcome, encouraging all to see themselves as part of the nation.

Mr Pieterse noted that there were poor service centres and asked what GCIS would do to improve them.

Ms Nebo Legoabe, Chief Director: GCIS, replied that GCIS had completed a review of all the centres and found that different centres were run differently. She stated that these would best be run through the municipalities. She also commented that more funds were needed so more departments could be involved.

Mr Pieterse questioned whether it was possible for the GCIS to give information regarding farm workers as there was a lot of information outstanding, as well as a lack of resources.

Ms Legoabe responded that the GCIS was working with farm workers, and that farmers were coming to them with complaints.

Mr Pieterse noted that there should be more copies of Vuk’uzenzele in circulation, particularly in libraries and available in Braille.

Mr Maseko commented that GCIS was making a concerted effort to improve the magazine.

Adv P Swart (DA) agreed that the GCIS and the government needed to work more closely to improve the Imbizos and to make them more inclusive.

Ms Tyawa commented again, saying that the province that would host the imbizo would have to send sectoral programmes. She said that they were an important platform for the government and the community as it would explain government actions. Every sphere of government was responsible for the improvement. The Imbizos should have representation from local, provincial and national government. She noted that the GCIS had established an Imbizo database and hoped that it would be interactive shortly. Although implementation of programmes was slow, there was definite progress.

Adv Swart felt that the GCIS was offering a first class service to the public, and appreciated this report. He commented that the GCIS’s main focus was informing people about services offered by the government and how to access them, and he was pleased to see increased access to the information. He also commended GCIS on employing people with disabilities.

Adv Swart then focused on the annual report and wanted to know what the debt included, and if any amounts had been repaid to the government, and why there was lack of recovery.

Ms Phumla Williams, Chief Financial Officer, GCIS, responded that the debt was an amount incurred through the former CEO that could not be recovered. This case was taken to Parliament where GCIS was given permission to write off the debt.

Adv Swart said that the former CEO should be held accountable for the money. He wanted to know if any money was recovered and if the CEO had paid anything back.

Ms Williams said that GCIS had made all attempts to recover the debt but could not, and no amounts had been repaid by the former CEO.

Ms D Smuts (DA) commented on the writing off of the debt. She noted that the former CEO had been working consistently and was therefore able to repay the debt. She said that the Department should not have condoned writing off the debt.

Mr Maseko said that the GCIS would have to adopt different approaches to different departments. All reasonable steps were taken to recover the debt but they could not. Mr Maseko stated that the GCIS was faced with major challenges but that it was monitoring its performance. Performance reviews were held quarterly to see if managers were doing their jobs, and if the money allocated to them was being spent correctly.

Ms Smuts also commented on the withholding of advertising from the Sunday Times. She noted that the Sunday Times and the Government were at loggerheads and she wanted to know what the GCIS was doing to fix the problem.

Mr Maseko stated that the GCIS wanted to improve communication between the government and the media. They would do this by encouraging an environment where the media could get hold of government officials more easily. The aim would be to let the media know that they were able to talk to officials about what was happening in the country. Specifically in relation to the issue between the Sunday Times and the Government, he commented that personally he thought there must be a professional assessment. GCIS was having open discussions with the media and had no agenda against any newspaper.

Mr S Nxumalo (ANC) thanked the GCIS for a good report and asked if it had its own internal researchers.

Ms Tyawa commented that the research was not done by the GCIS as it could be subjective, so they commissioned researchers.

Mr Nxumalo said that he had never seen a Vuk’uzenzele magazine and that he had to request one. Nxumalo commented that there were areas that were remote but that they were accessible. This was an area to improve on.

Mr Khumalo agreed that the distribution of the magazine was important, but also wanted to know if it was readable in terms of the style, layout and design. He also wanted to know if it was targeting the whole country, and all demographics including minorities. He also addressed the issue of the lack of communication saying that there was something lacking in terms of television and radio programmes. He said that GCIS should not only rely on the magazine and that other media programmes would be helpful.

Mr Maseko answered that GCIS would have to do a review in order to answer the questions concerning the magazine.

Ms Tyawa added that research had shown that most people wanted the government magazine, but warned that they did not receive sufficient information. GCIS had done extensive research on distribution strategies and that it had found different and creative ways of distributing the magazine. She agreed that Vuk’uzenzele could not be the only platform and therefore GCIS was engaging in other programmes. GCIS also used the radio to help with the distribution of the magazine, encouraging people to share with others. Tyawa informed members of a new idea that the GCIS was working on. She said that they were focusing on a television program to be aired in January which would focus on government issues. According to Tyawa, they would work with other departments to improve communication

Mr Nxumalo asked for the reasons around the high vacancy, particularly in regard to centre management positions.

Ms Legoabe said that the issues of vacancies was a challenge, but that GCIS was expecting positions to be filled by people from municipalities. All that was needed was encouragement.

Media Development and Diversity Agency (MDDA): Annual Report Briefing
Ms Kanyisiwe Mkonza, Chairperson, MDDA, thanked the committee for their support, feedback and criticisms.

Ms Kerry Cullinan, Board Member, focused on the background of the MDDA and reminded members that the MDDA was responsible for promoting media development and diversity in South Africa. It did this by providing financial and other types of support to the community and small commercial media projects. The MDDA helped with printed publications, radio, television and new electronic platforms.

The enabling environment for media development and diversity was conducive to public discourse, which reflected the needs and aspirations of South Africans. MDDA aimed to ensure that each and every citizen had access to a choice of a diverse range of media, and to create an environment where media flourished and reflected the needs of all South Africans. The MDDA wanted to encourage the ownership and control of, as well as access to the media. They also wanted to encourage the development of human resources and training, and capacity building within the media industry. It further wished to raise public awareness with regards to media development and diversity issues, to support literacy initiatives and a culture of reading as well as to encourage research regarding media development.

Mr Lumko Mtimde, Chief Executive Officer, MDDA, addressed application for grants. He said that there were many applicants but that some were refused because they were not licensed or because they did not have a business plan. Those with incomplete applications were asked to complete the grants properly and re-apply. Those without business plans were given mentoring support to assist them with proper business plans. MDDA had funded media presenting women, children, and people with disabilities, the elderly in media and gay and lesbian issues in media.

Mr Mbuyiseni Jafta, Chief Financial Officer, MDDA presented the financial statement, giving a breakdown of elements. The income mostly derived from the government, print partners, broadcast partners and interest. Expenditure largely related to grant costs, personnel, administrative and depreciation costs. The financial statements also showed that funds had not been allocated towards research and that MDDA had suffered a deficit for the financial year.

Dr M Boloko, Board Member, MDDA, spoke about growth opportunities and the future. The Agency had already received new applications and was receiving more funding. He said that there would be a review of regulations, policies, procedures, systems and processes. There would also be evaluations of projects supported. The MDDA would continue providing grants in response to applications for media development and diversity. It would also develop strategies with the sector to build stronger provincial media networks. The aim was to develop strategies to resolve printing and distribution challenges facing the community.

Ms Mkonza addressed the challenges facing the MDDA. She said that there was a need to reach media neglected communities, especially rural areas. It also needed to focus on the capacity of sectors to absorb and account for funds, irrelevant programming, and the lack of sustainability of some projects. Further challenges were facing new media and community media projects.

Discussion
Mr Nxumalo wanted to know about the project tracking system.

Mr Mtimde said that MDDA focused on their strategy, and outlined priority areas. The aim was to reach diversity requirements in terms of the law. e MDDA responded to applications just as much as they helped the media. They hoped to support and respond to projects so they could gain media awareness and therefore support.

Mr Nxumalo asked for an explanation on rolling over of funds for projects
Mr Swart asked about the deficit that MDDA had experienced.

Mr Mtimde said that MDDA was trying to ensure that they were running a smooth operation. The rollovers resulted from funds for purchasing infrastructure. He also said that MDDA was looking at handover strategies at the time, so they could engage in handover processes when the new board members were elected. There were areas that needed intervention in terms of remuneration and compatibility of the market.

Mr Nxumalo asked why there were no funds allocated for research.

Ms Mkonza responded that MDDA did not allocate research funds as there were no research projects approved for the financial year, and research results from the previous year were being used. The funds that were not used for research were used for training.

International Marketing Council (IMC): Annual Report Briefing
Ms Yvonne Johnston, Chief Executive Officer, IMC, informed members that crime was the biggest issue inhibiting tourism and investment and this was making it difficult to market South Africa. A real threat to the brand was the reconsideration being give by international companies about sending their staff to work in South Africa. IMC therefore had to find methods of not allowing the negative issues to get in the way of maximizing the marketing opportunities. It would counter the negativity by getting South Africans to reconsider the values of the country and by creating a sense of unity. It would also allow the staff to challenge every action taken, by ensuring that the budget was used correctly, and by mobilizing South Africans.

Ms Johnston told members that the IMC had launched a new campaign called “We’ve done it before”. The campaign was designed to resist the negative perceptions on readiness for 2010 and on crime, labour laws and other challenges. The aim would be to show South Africans that the nation was able to overcome overwhelming odds as it is powerful and resilient.

A significant development had been the initiation of a Brand South Africa MediaClub that provided an up-to-date comprehensive information service to South Africans. This would initially only be a web portal but would be expanded to a full-house media service in host cities in 2010.

Ms Johnston advised that IMC collaborated with government departments on future missions to enable alignment, and to achieve consistency in how the country was marketed. IMC had collaborated on three missions, the USA, the Gulf and India. The aim was to form partnerships and collaborations so that the IMC could maximise capacity to leverage on the 2010 event. It had therefore partnered with the Department of Foreign Affairs, SA Tourism and GCIS in developing an information toolkit for embassies around the world.

A major project had been the visit of the Minister of Safety and Security to engage with business leaders from London. He reassured them that the crime problem was being attended to. However, progress in some countries such as India had been slow as media interest in South Africa had been low. She stated that the Global South Africans Initiative was now becoming a reality, with many South Africans in the UK and USA willing to be brand ambassadors and promote the country.

Provinces were also starting to market and promote themselves. The Gauteng sub-brand had been completed, the Eastern Cape draft had been completed with the creative work being developed, Limpopo had been engaging with officials and the Northern Cape had almost completed their positioning statement. The North West and Mpumalanga had also engaged in marketing projects. The IMC had been invited to KZN and the Western Cape to engage in marketing and branding talks. Furthermore, IMC sought brand alignment initiatives internationally. It was producing a TV commercial promoting SA as an investment destination, and wanted the work to be bold, challenging, mind-opening and sophisticated. The IMC had distributed the SA Story Booklet at the Rugby World Cup as a way of providing information on South Africa to the rest of the world.

Mr Moeletsi Mabuku, Chief Financial Officer, IMC, tabled the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2007. These were prepared using appropriate accounting policies and the internal audit was outsourced from the GCIS for nine months. He told members that risk management workshops were held, and that fraud prevention plans as well as disaster recovery plans were implemented. There were no debtors written off for the year but one debt of a former employee had been handed over for recovery. The IMC also received a clean audit report from the Auditor General.

Mr Mabuku noted that there were challenges, but they were currently being addressed. Inadequate monitoring controls occurred because the IMC at one stage did not have a financial manager but that position had been filled. The financial manager was now reviewing reconciliations and systems of internal control.

Discussion
Mr Khumalo addressed the issue of the perception of crime in the country.

Mr Swart questioned whether there was a perception that South Africa was in denial about the seriousness of the crime situation.

The Chairperson said that it was easy to market a positive development in the country; it was not a question of hiding it away, but capitalising on it. When there was a negative development like crime there would have to be a fairly intensive campaign. He wanted to know if IMC had a realistic message about the crime situation in the country. He said that it should be a message understandable to people. He asked if the messages being sent out did tell people that there was a pressing crime situation in the country but that it was being taken care of. He also wanted to know from which country South Africa could most benefit in terms of tourism, business and trade and whether there was a strategy in place in order to penetrate the east.

Mr Pieterse wanted to know if the good news and information on South Africa in possession of the IMC could be made available to South Africans, who did not always have access to that information.

Ms Johnston replied to the question of whether the message on crime was realistic. The current murders had been a major issue because they had entrenched even more the perception of crime in the country. Campaigns had been undermined by negative influences. The IMC had found this issue very difficult to deal with. She also said that the IMC would have to link in to the good factors in South Africa, and try to capitalise on the unity that there currently was among citizens.

Ms Johnston stated that it was easy for the media to say that the government was in denial about crime, but she believed this was an unfair perception as the government had said repeatedly that crime was our most important issue. She warned that it was important to admit to mistakes so as to deal with them effectively.

Ms Johnson noted that the IMC had initiated “talking points” as a way of managing challenges around crime and perceptions. IMC did not want to get defensive as it was not helpful to the situation. It believed that it was more helpful to talk about what was being done about the challenges. It therefore preferred to talk about a safe and secure South Africa, as opposed to crime, with the aim to engage the community and give them hope. She said that the “talking point” was that many countries in South Africa’s state of development were battling with rising crime rates, but with the right combination of innovation, practical problem solving and public or private partnerships, South Africa and others would be able to change the situation.

Mr Khumalo wanted to know when the IMC would consider a campaign targeting the continent, not only international countries. Mr Khumalo also suggested that IMC look at Australia as there were a large number of South Africans living there.

Ms Johnston responded that the IMC felt the same way as he did about marketing South Africa through Africa, but the Board said that there was not enough money to allocate towards the project. She stated, however, that there were ways to get around the issue, such as telling people the good news stories coming out of Africa. These would include stories of good governance and the increase in business investments to Africa. IMC did not have an Africa country manager but that IMC would be given the opportunity to tell Africa’s story via the World Cup. She warned that South Africa would have to be cautious in telling the African story in a way that did not amount to arrogance. The IMC had already marketed South Africa in Kenya and Nigeria.

In regard to the Chairperson’s queries around investment, Ms Johnston said that there were many investment opportunities in the Gulf countries as they were very comfortable doing business in Africa and specifically, South Africa. She said that Australia was a difficult country to penetrate as research showed that this had the most negative perceptions of South Africa, which could be due to the vast numbers of South Africans who had left the country. IMC did not have enough resources to tackle Australia, as it was a major job. South Africa was well positioned to take on the East and the West because of its political status and the stance taken on various issues affecting the rest of the world. She agreed that the East, and especially India and China, were important areas to concentrate on with regard to marketing.

Mr Nxumalo asked why the previous marketing director resigned and why it was proving difficult to find another one.

Ms Johnston responded that the marketing director had worked at IMC for six years, and that he was a very intelligent person who became a very marketable commodity, hence he had moved elsewhere. The position was difficult to fill because IMC wanted to hire the best, but would continue to look for these required skills.

Mr Nxumalo addressed the issue of foreigners in South Africa, and asked if a skills audit was initiated to find out what skills they were bringing to the country so as to benefit the economy.

Ms Johnston said that IMC had researched why people left South Africa, the perceptions of South Africa, and why people did or did not want to do business in South Africa. She said that most countries would invest in neighbouring countries and South Africa was an unfamiliar territory. Investing in South Africa was more complex as it was a long-haul destination. She noted that skills audits were done by other government departments, and not the IMC.

Mr Nxumalo asked why the country managers’ salaries were not reflected on the financial statements. He also questioned the absence of traveling allowances for board members.

Mr Mabuku responded that because of the nature of their job, the salaries were deemed classified. He also said that the board members were doing the work for free, and therefore did not receive traveling allowances.

Media Development and Diversity Agency (MDDA): Shortlisting of Candidates for MDDA Board
The Chairperson announced to the Committee that late CVs would not be accepted as there were already sufficient applications.

He asked the Committee to decide on the number of candidates that would be short listed. He reminded members that there would be costs involved, and that the Committee would be on a tight schedule.

Mr K Khumalo (ANC) proposed that eight candidates be shortlisted for the four MDDA vacancies. This proposal was accepted.

After the DA and ANC nominated their preferred candidates, the Chairperson announced that Ms five names were agreed on: namely Ms Msibi, Mr Marais, Mr Minyi, Prof Pillay and Prof Burger.

In later discussions, Members agreed to add Mr T Masemola, Ms R Mullins and Ms N Gongxeka to the shortlist.

The meeting was adjourned.