Question NW1874 to the Minister in the Presidency

Reply:

The work of GCIS is centered on ensuring coherence in government communication to achieve its Constitutional mandate of ensuring a well-informed public.

This is done through the development of daily key messages on issues which are in the public discourse. Importantly, these are shared with Members of both the National and Provincial Executives to ensure standardisation and coherence in messaging. Communication concerning policy or programme are guided by the Statement of Intent which outlines the fundamental principles and priorities agreed to by the members of the GNU.

Guidelines for communication by the Executive have been developed and shared with Members of the National Executive during the Ministerial Induction programme.

The GCIS through its daily assessment of the communications environment meetings and weekly Communications Planning engagements invites communicators from all Ministries in the GNU to ensure consistency and clarity of message, aligned to the message from The Presidency.

As part of the continuous professionalisation of the government wide communication system the 2018 Cabinet approved Government Communication Policy initiated the institutionalisation of rules, processes and procedures premised on development communication principles and approaches, across national, provincial and local governments.

The citizen centric and client focused policy aims to strengthen a government communication system that enables the public and the international community to participate in and take up opportunities from government policies and programmes.

Coordination of the government communications system ensures coherence and reliability in meeting the information needs of stakeholders. This is underpinned by principles of being ethical, open, transformative and professional, so as to enable an active citizenry.

To ensure results-based communication the Policy provides for the regulations, processes and procedures, and assigns responsibilities within and across government spheres. In terms of the Policy, The Minister responsible for government communication provides political direction to government communicators.

In addition, GCIS is developing norms and standards for communication for the executive. These standards will strengthen the existing Policy to ensure collaboration, collegiality, responsiveness and professionalization on communication between members of the executive. The purpose of these norms and standards is to promote co-operation and co-ordination with a view to enhancing communication between members of the executive at all levels of government. Once the draft has been finalised, it will be taken to the Cabinet for approval.

The above demonstrates how the GCIS is ensuring consistency of messages from Ministers, and being aligned to communication from The Presidency.

REPLY COORDINATOR

Name : Ms Saadia Moolla

Designation : Director: Office of the DG GCIS

Contact : 012 473 0264

Recommended / Not recommended

___________________________

Ms Nomonde Mnukwa

Acting Director-General: Government Communication and Information System

(GCIS)

Date:

Approved / Not Approved

________________________

Ms Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, MP

Minister in The Presidency

Date: