Hansard: NA: Unrevised hansard

House: National Assembly

Date of Meeting: 09 May 2013

Summary

No summary available.


Minutes

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Thursday, 9 May 2013 Take: 489

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START OF DAY

THURSDAY, 09 MAY 2013

PROCEEDINGS OF EXTENDED PUBLIC COMMITTEE – COMMITTEE ROOM E249

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Members of the Extended Public Committee met in Committee Room E249 at 14:01.

The Temporary House Chairperson, Mr G T Snell, as Chairperson, took the Chair and requested members to observe a moment of silence for prayer or meditation.

THE FIRST ORDER

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Start of Day

APPROPRIATION BILL

Debate on Vote No 9 – Government Communications and Information System:

The MINISTER IN THE PRESIDENCY: PERFORMANCE MONITORING AND EVALUATION, AS WELL AS ADMINISTRATION IN THE PRESIDENCY: House Chairperson, chairperson of the portfolio committee, Deputy Minister, Mr Bapela, hon Members, honoured guests, friends and comrades, members of the Government Communication and Information System, GCIS, staff and management, members of the media, ladies and gentlemen, the GCIS mandate, since its establishment, was to serve as the central communications agency of a relatively new democratic government leading the reconstruction and development of postapartheid South Africa.

A government communication system that mobilises the nation behind the National Development Plan, showcases progress and invites South Africans to work together to address challenges is critical to the achievement of Vision 2030.

This is an organisation responsible for informing all citizens of our country about what government is doing for them and how they can participate in the governance and consolidation of our democracy. The GCIS has a responsibility to act in the interest of all South Africans, without discrimination and communicate effectively in all official languages and reach all communities in urban, peri-urban and rural areas.

In its 15 years of existence, the GCIS has managed to reach millions of South Africans through different platforms which include publications, news media, radio, television and izimbizo. We are presenting this Budget Vote on the eve of the celebration of our 20 years of freedom. In this regard, the GCIS will mobilise society and the country at large towards taking stock and celebrating what we have achieved as a nation in these 20 years.

Government will also recount what this democratic government has done and continues to do to improve the lives of all South Africans.

Through the GCIS, the country should recount the gains it has made, as confirmed by the results of the Census 2011 and government's own monitoring, that a lot has been done and life in our country is changing for the better.

People need to know that life expectancy has improved to 60 years of age since 2009. The RDP housing programme has built over three million housing units since 1994. The percentage of households with access to potable water infrastructure has increased from 60% in 1994 to over 95% by last year. Access to electricity has increased from just over 50% of households in the same period to approximately 85%.

Our people must also know that the percentage of Grade 1 learners who attended formal Grade R increased from 80% to 90% in 2012. There was also improvement in Grade 3 literacy from 48% of learners operating at minimum literacy level in 2009 to 52% in 2012. The textbook distribution for 2013 school year with Grades 4 to 6, has achieved national average of 98,7%.

Also in the area of health, the TB cure rate has increased from

43,4% in 2009 to 73,5% in 2012. Patient satisfaction measured through the Statistics SA General Household Survey has also improved from 54% to 64% in 2012. A functional GCIS fulfilling its mandate properly should also be able to inform our nation that while we are making good progress, there are still challenges. There is a number of South Africans still awaiting delivery which has not reached them as yet.

We believe that an informed nation will have a better appreciation of the challenges we have and the work this government is doing to improve their lives. As the GCIS, we are the first to say that a lot of good communication has taken place in the past 15 years and acknowledge that we have not been able to reach every South African as we should. As we enter 20 years of freedom, we must be able to enhance our communication and ensure that we reach every community and household through different mediums available at our disposal.

The GCIS continues to enhance existing communication platforms and products, and initiate new ones to ensure that targeted audiences and communities receive relevant information through a variety of means. The GCIS is also establishing partnerships with strategic stakeholders within the three spheres of government, and within the broader society, because we recognise that it is only through working together that we can indeed do more.

In this financial year, we will begin with a campaign to mobilise society towards consolidating our democracy in the context of the

20 years of our freedom. Government, led by the Presidency, is conducting a review of our achievements for the past 20 years. These will form the narrative that government will use to focus the nation's attention on our achievements and to motivate South Africans to work together, to do more and ensure that every South African receives the services which are due to them.

As we champion the ethos of working together across all sectors of our society, informed by research, we know that people prefer face to face or unmediated communication by government, especially at the local level. Through the izimbizo programme, we have had information seminars led by political leadership and activities in shopping malls, sport facilities and at taxi ranks. This also enabled physical distribution of information to citizens.

Using a variety of platforms, just over 3 000 communication projects were implemented in the most remote corners of our country, reaching more than 23 million people. The Thusong Service Centre programme was established by government to serve as information centres for communities. They later evolved, realising the service delivery gap, to become service delivery points close to where people live. They are there to promote cost-effective, integrated, efficient and sustainable service provision to serve the needs of citizens better. This programme has brought hope and relief to our people. Last year we expanded access to information and services for citizens, including the use of integrated mobile units where key service departments sign up people for services and provide information.

Our mothers and grandmothers in urban and peri-urban areas are now able to register for social grants, apply for IDs and birth certificates through Home Affairs within their localities. However, we are aware of the challenges facing this programme and that not all of them are fully functional. We have undertaken a process of review so we can identify the gaps and ensure that this essential service serves its purpose to our people.

Our partnership with the Transnet Phelophepa Health Train alone visited 24 train stations in four provinces and serviced around 380 000 beneficiaries. In 2012-13, GCIS provincial and district offices supported national days and significant campaigns with activities that included the roll-out of President Jacob Zuma's Siyahlola Presidential Monitoring Visits; Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe's War on Poverty drives, and Public Participation Programmes of Cabinet Ministers and Deputy Ministers in over 2000 events.

We place special emphasis on supporting municipalities in their communication, with preference given to municipalities who are part of Local Government Turnaround Strategy. The GCIS does so to close the gap between municipalities and communities, which sometimes contributes to the factors behind unlawful protests in some communities. We also have a mandate to ensure that government's vision and policies are clearly understood in the public service.

We co-ordinate an Internal Communicators' Forum to ensure coherence of messages across the various channels and outlets departments manage.

While we work closely and consistently with public media to disseminate information to as many South Africans as possible, we also recognise that the dissemination of government information is not the primary business of the public sector alone. Against this background, we are pleased that Vuk'uzenzele, a free national government newspaper, continues to gain traction among its target audience with a monthly circulation of 1,7 million. In the last financial year, we distributed 20,4 million copies of the Vuk'uzenzele in deep rural, rural and peri-urban areas. Through effective distribution management practices, a performance metric of 99,6% has been sustained against an industry average of 98%. Vuk'uzenzele is the only newspaper in the country available in Braille and all official languages.

Citizens with access to the internet access the newspaper through an online version, which is due for further enhancement and improved usability. The online edition attracted over a remarkable 400 000 hits since April last year. One of our flagships, the government news agency formerly known as BuaNews, repositioned itself as SAnews in the past year, to enhance branding of the agency's identity and online searches.

From one of the smallest newsrooms in the country, SAnews.gov.za produces hard news and human-interest features, carries loads of exciting pictures, video content on YouTube, and is also available on Facebook and Twitter. The government news agency has become more popular with the public as opposed to the media and it will continue to be marketed to the broader public as a complement to South Africa's rapidly diversifying news and information mix.

Today the agency receives more than half a million hits per month from users domestically and internationally. In securing a wider reach across the South African population we recently piloted a project to feed radio news bulletins live to community radio stations across the country. To cater for the communication and information needs of the leadership corps in the public sector, we continue to publish its monthly Public Sector Manager, PSM, magazine, with 170 000 copies produced in the past financial year.

The magazine gave birth to a quarterly supplement, GovComms, which analyses communication trends in the public and private sectors for government communicators. Forty five thousand copies of this newsletter are produced each quarter. In the current financial year, the number of magazines will be reduced to 144 000 copies with GovComms increased to 48 000 per annum.

Also, in the past financial year, the GCIS launched My District Today, a weekly electronic newsletter capturing progress at the coalface of service delivery in the five priority programme areas of government. Currently, over 500 key stakeholders from within and outside government, including members of this House, receive this product.

On the online environment, the GCIS also informs citizens, stakeholders and other interested groups through the SA Government Online and GCIS websites. The SA Government Online website serves as the official entry point to online government information. During the past financial year, the page views for the website increased by approximately 4,8 million, compared to 2011-12 financial year.

Social Media have evaporated the geographical boundaries within which society previously conducted itself. It has defined and broadened the scope of possibilities with regard to the worldwide government communication. The GCIS will continue to put government information in this space. The GCIS will, in this financial year, produce 45 000 copies of the South Africa Yearbook and 20 000 copies of the Pocket Guide to South Africa which is extensively used to market the country as a tourist destination.

The agency has continued to support the President's state of the nation address campaign annually, and also the National Orders. The postSona ministerial media briefings, implemented by the GCIS assisted in unpacking implementation of governments' programme of action for the past financial year, this financial year, and beyond. GCIS also plans to implement ministerial cluster media briefings on a more regular basis throughout the year in providing up to date information to citizens through media.

We will continue to support the National Orders as they are integral to celebrating our heritage, fostering the acknowledgement of our country's heroes and heroines and building our nation's social identity, which is a key enabler in the National Development Plan. We have also begun to lead and drive communication between government and the media led by the Cabinet Spokesperson and GCIS CEO.

Through our rapid response system, government is working to set the media agenda, respond to issues in the communication environment and set the communication agenda in the interest of the public. This is to ensure that the government asserts its voice and achievements in the battle of ideas in the media. It is also to ensure that it is proactive in communicating policies and programmes to diverse communities, using in particular, the SABC African Language Radio Stations, ALS, and the media community.

The GCIS has also begun to ensure a steady and more frequent stream of government's voice in mainstream media through weekly opinion pieces by the CEO of the GCIS and other managers. In enhancing the effectiveness of the government-wide communication system, we will continue to assist the departments to formulate and implement communication strategies and plans on major campaigns. These campaigns include the London 2012 Olympics, Civil Registration and Vital Statistics Conference, Census 2011, National Population Register, Worlds Aids Day, Remission of Sentence and World Economic Forum.

The GCIS also provided communication support and contributed to the communication success of South Africa's hosting of mega events such as the BRICS Summit and the Orange Africa Cup of Nations, Afcon. The GCIS is tasked with communicating the work of government through implementing cost-effective media bulk buying in newspapers, radio, television, outdoor and digital media, through relevant advertising messaging.

Equally importantly, the GCIS works to capture dynamic archives of South Africa's history. A culture of strategic media bulk buying is gaining momentum, and progress is being made on delivering costs saving to the fiscus. In the previous financial year, we bought media for 41 clients; this included national departments, provinces, and entities. I am pleased to announce that this advertising expenditure was valued over R250 million, for which the GCIS paid only R220 million.

The amount saved through bulk buying amounts to R30 million. The GCIS, through its media buying operation, continues to support the financial viability of a diverse community media sector by placing over R37 million in advertising in community press, radio and television stations. I am pleased to announce that the GCIS has yet again received an unqualified audit report on both financial statements and performance information. The organisation continues to work smarter and displays sound financial management of public funds.

The vacancy rate has been kept consistently at 5% throughout the year. The Employment Equity Plan has been implemented and the following achievements were maintained with 53% of females at senior management level and 2,3% employees with disabilities. This month the GCIS will be relocating its premises to Tshedimosetso House, in Hatfield. These premises will be equipped with state-of–the-art technology that will enable the GCIS to become more impactful in executing its mandate.

Over the medium term, expenditure is expected to increase from R396, 7 million in 2013-14 to R430,8 million in 2015-16 financial years. The increased spending will mainly be in the administration programme and will be used for costs of IT and office accommodation.

The GCIS was allocated the additional funding of R19,1 million over the medium term. As an additional savings measure approved by Cabinet, the GCIS budget was reduced by R3,9 million in 2013-14, and R8,3 million in 2014-15 and R13,1 million in the outer medium-term expenditure framework. These reductions have delayed some of the planned expansions of communication services. However, the department has implemented measures to mitigate any potential adverse effect on the achievement of outputs.

In conclusion, I would like to thank the Deputy Minister, hon Obed Bapela, for his leadership and strategic guidance to the GCIS. I would also like to thank the portfolio committee for its vigilance and support for the work of this important institution of government. I thank the Acting CEO, Phumla Williams, and the management and staff of the GCIS for the outstanding work performed in a very dynamic, challenging and, at times, under-resourced, environment. We have a responsibility to our citizens and we will work hard to serve them. I now commend this Budget to the House. Thank you. [Applause.]

Mr S E KHOLWANE / EKS/LIM CHECKED// END OF TAKE

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The MINISTER IN THE PRESIDENCY: (Mr O C Chabane)

Mr S E KHOLWANE: Hon Chairperson, hon Minister and Deputy Minister of Performance, Monitoring and Evaluation as well as Administration, Collins Chabane and Obed Bapela, hon members of the House and members of the Cabinet who might be present here, members of the Portfolio Committee on Communications, acting CEO of Government Communication Information System, GCIS, Ms Pumla Williams, the Chairperson and CEO of Media Development and Diversity Agency, MDDA, Ms Phelisa Nkomo and Lumko Mtimde, senior government officials who might be present, members of the media and distinguished guests, it is my privilege and honour to deliver today this Budget Vote debate on behalf of the Portfolio Committee on Communications.

Indeed, the capacity to communicate effectively with constituents is a fundamental function of modern governance. A key aspect of governance is how citizens, leaders and public institutions relate to one another in order to make change happen. Without communication structures and processes which enable the two-way exchange of information between the state and its citizens, it is difficult to imagine how the state can be responsive to public needs and expectation.

Consultation and involvement of the public in the work of the government through opening up communication channels can be considered as a basic prerequisite in government transparency. Communication represents an important function of government responsible for improving three principal elements namely,: Effectiveness, responsiveness and accountability.

Communication is not a one-way tool, but a participative engagement between government and its citizens. Hon Chairperson, enhanced citizen participation, which is enabled by effective public communication, is a key indicator of effective government communication. Therefore, government communication is more than just developing effective spokespersons, it also involves provision of customer-oriented services, building capacity for the citizens to provide government with feedback in respect of these services, fostering a collaborative approach and optimally using technological platforms as catalyst for engaging citizens in a knowledge economy which we are striving to achieve as a country.

On this day in 1754, a journalist, Benjamin Franklin printed the first political cartoon in American history - a woodcut of a severed snake, entitled: "Join or Die." Franklin's cartoon in the Pennsylvanian Gazette depicted the British North American as a snake cut into eight segments, each segment designated with an initial of a separate colony or region as in the case of New England.

An editorial discussing the disunited state of the colonies accompanied the cartoon, clearly suggesting that in the light of the clear and present danger posed by the French and Native Americans to their security, the colonies faced a critical decision and that is, to unite as a collective unit and repulse the enemy or remain disunited and suffer an inevitable death.

Today we are faced with the same situation of a disjointed government communication system. It is my conviction that if this status quo remains, it will result in the ultimate demise of effective government communication.

The Comstock Report of 1996 noted the disconnection between the communication practitioners and the required level of skills needed in the profession, and recommended that a qualification for government communications be introduced.

I am pleased to note that the GCIS and the Public Administration Leadership and Management Academy, Palama, are busy dealing with this matter. We hope to get a positive report in due course.

Drawing on the principles of Franklin's depiction, it is therefore high time that government unite to shape a collective message and a way of doing things that spans around national provincial and local governments.

This also gives us an opportunity to check, to what extent are all South Africans enjoying the freedom of expression and media freedom provisions enshrined in section 16 and 32 of our Constitution.

The importance of preserving media freedom in South Africa can be emphasised by describing the regrettable history during which media freedom was nonexistent, as well as the long struggle towards the current state of affairs.

From colonisation to the apartheid regime, South Africa has a long history of oppression and censorship. As David Wigston points out: "... locally produced newspapers did not appear in South Africa until a century and a half after the occupation of the Cape by Van Riebeeck in 1652, simply because the Dutch East Indian Company... perceived the press as potentially revolutionary instruments."

Once the first nongovernmental newspaper, the South African Commercial Advertiser was published in 1824, the 22 year monopoly of the government press was broken. However, the then governor of the Cape Colony, Lord Charles Somerset, soon closed it down as he feared reports of his spurious activities.

Government censorship during the apartheid era severely hampered the media industry ensuring that it towed the line. In terms of the apartheid government policies newspapers had to apply for registration if they were to have publication more than 11 times a year. An arbitrary amount was also required before the registration was approved. Government also enforced the regulations controlling what newspapers could publish, especially with regards to articles and comments on activities deemed to be against the apartheid system.

Our Constitution currently guarantees the right of freedom of expression and the right for press.

We also acknowledge that the MDDA under the leadership of: Ms Khanyi Mkhonza from 2003 till 2007, then under the leadership of Ms Gugu Msibi from 2007 to 2012 and their respective boards, and also the first CEO of the MDDA, Ms Libby Lloyd from 2003 to 2006 and lately, Mr Lumko Mtimde as the CEO from 2006 whom I am told his contract comes to an end in 2014, indeed with their respective management teams had been stable, reporting their performance information in accordance with expectation and receiving unqualified audit reports. These 10 years of agency reflects the correctness of the position of the ANC to establish the MDDA.

The agreement reached between the MDDA and the Print and Digital Media South Africa, PDMSA, to recognise the MDDA Act definition for a local media, indeed will go a long way in resolving the matter which had been going on between the big companies in the print media and the local print media in ensuring that, indeed they all comply with the definition of the legislation which clearly indicates that a community media can only be a community media of that community if it benefits the people of that particular area not those big companies.

In responding to the 2011 State of the Nation Address by His Excellency President Jacob Zuma which focused on job creation, as well as government's National Policy Framework such as Industrial Policy Action Plan, Ipap, and the National Growth Path, NGP, MDDA managed - though not that much - to create direct and indirect jobs that are around 310. If you know the size of the MDDA this is more than 100 times of their size. But they have contributed to the programme of government of job creation.

To this end, South Africans, young people in particular, through the MDDA programme have been able to gain skills and jobs,

This is the 10 years worth celebrating. Happy 10 years MDDA! You have done this country proud. This is also 20 years after the broadcast by the first SA Community Radio, Bush Radio, which started to broadcast from 25 April 1993. Similarly it's 20 years of the National Community Radio Forum, NCRF, since its establishement. This is therefore a year of celebration for the MDDA.

On 27 April, South Africans commemorated Freedom Day, being the 19th year since the first democratic elections of the Republic of South Africa. When drawing upon this day, we remember the words of the former President Nelson Mandela who said: "... for to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others."

This freedom is entrenched in our Constitution which maintains among others, each citizen's right to information - in effect to be reliably informed. It is therefore important for the GCIS to ensure that it plays its role in building an informed citizenry and providing citizens with information on priorities, programmes and activities. This is a vital government function which underpins state-society relationship.

On 3 May we celebrated the worldwide Press Freedom Day as per the proclamation by the United Nation at its General Assembly in 1993, in line with Article 19 of a Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

This followed the 26th session of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Unesco, General Conference in 1991 which adopted the Windhoek Declaration, a statement of principle calling for a free independent media throughout the world. The Declaration affirms that a free press is essential to the existence of a democracy and a fundamental human goal.

This year is the 20th anniversary of the World Press Freedom Day and more than 19 years of independent press media freedom in South Africa.

An opportunity exists for all of us South Africans to reflect on the key milestone achieved in the quest to attain media freedom and celebrate the fundamental principle of media freedom enshrined in our Constitution. Defend and protect media freedom and pay tribute to media activists/journalists, who lost their lives in the line of duty. All South Africans have reason to join the world, to remember and celebrate the World Press Freedom Day.

As well as we celebrate the World Freedom Day, we must ensure that rural communities have access to all media including television services and print media in a language of their choice. We must ensure responsible journalism and that our media is transformed to reflect South Africa in every respect.

We must also support and create an enabling environment for media development and diversity where South Africans are celebrating legislative guarantees of press freedom, freedom of expression and editorial independence.

It became clear after the parliamentary process in 2001 that a lot of work and commitment is needed in order to ensure that the majority of South Africans, indeed enjoy these rights.

Chairperson, it was during its 52nd Conference when the ANC resolved on parliamentary enquiry about the desirability and feasibility of establishing an independent Media Appeals Tribunal. The aim was to complete and strengthen the self-regulatory system of the print media. The ineffectiveness and varied weakness of the self-regulatory system was confirmed by their own independent Press Freedom Commission, PFC. The ANC was vindicated by the Press Freedom Commission when most of its findings proved the ANC to be right.

However, what remains a challenge is that the same print media is resisting to implement the same recommendations that have been made by its own commission. Which clearly demonstrate that, indeed, ... [Applause]... the ANC was correct when saying that in this country we have a problem with the print media which think that the right to freedom of expression only belong to themselves not all South Africans. There cannot be a referee and a player. Indeed as ANC in this Parliament ... [Applause.]... we will continue, will continue in due course with that inquiry because we cannot leave the print media untransformed, they need to be transformed... [Interjection.]...

Mr D A KGANARE: Hon Chairperson, hon Chairperson, Chairperson...

Mr S E KHOLWANE: ... they will transform and they need to transform.

The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr G T SNELL): Sorry, I just want to say... I am not trying to stifle any kind of robust debate but this is a small venue. So, howling at each other across the floor, I won't tolerate please. Thank you. Continue.

Mr S E KHOLWANE: Thank you, Chairperson for your protection. But, indeed, whether you like it or not, the ANC will in due course embark on that parliamentary enquiry. They can't be left untransformed. If we are reasonable as South Africans who believe in transformation and change in this country, we will agree that it is necessary. Of course, if you dare or care, you can just research in terms of how untransformed this print media is, in our country.

Minister, allow me to highlight some of the key issues contained in the GCIS Department's Budget Vote which was established in 2012 and which indeed we have managed to achieve. We do recognise that some of them had been partly achieved but a majority of them had been achieved.

However, Chairperson and hon Minister, we want to say as a committee, we are concerned that there are some indications that to a certain extent some of these priorities have been stifled by the staff turnover in some of the sections. However, if we have already corrected that it will mean that we are on the right path in terms of making sure that GCIS continue to do the work which it is supposed to.

I must also say that as ANC, in 2007 we had taken a decision that we want each municipal area to have a community radio station, not for the municipality but in a municipal area. Indeed, we are looking at the progress which the MDDA there is making. We are not there, but don't dare fail us. We want all municipal areas by 2014 to have community radio station because our people deserve to listen to the news, to be entertained and educated in their own languages. And indeed if that will be a reality that we could achieve, as ANC, we will be glad because it will be a step towards the achievement of media diversity.

I must also take this opportunity to thank the funding partners of MDDA, I won't mention all of them but, if you can get a copy of my speech you will see them. We urge that they continue their support for the noble course of the media diversity, and polarity of voice and opinions. Together we will increase our funding for the MDDA and turn the tide in respect of the transformation of media in South Africa.

The ANC also likes to thank both the staff of the GCIS and also the MDDA, for the work well done. Our thanks also go to... [Interjection.]... This is a political platform, we are debating a budget in a political platform... [Interjection.]... exactly, so I am glad if you know that... [Laughter]

I must also acknowledge that MDDA on 24 May will be having the MDDA Local Media Award-giving ceremony. I hope that the preparations to do so are at an advanced level.

In conclusion I would like to quote the words of former President Thabo Mbeki, who once said:"as a consequence of the victories we have registered during our first 10 years of democracy and freedom, we have laid a firm foundation for the new advances we must and will make during the next decades".

By saying so, I would like to extend the same to the MDDA and the GCIS. You have done us proud all the time and we hope you will continue to do so, to make us proud as a nation.

Hon Minister, we are encouraged that the budget as requested is sufficient to address the requirements contained in your strategic plan and we will support the key national imperatives of your strategic plan in your budget. And we would like to call upon all the parties and all those who are participants in this sector that, indeed if we can work together we can do more. The ANC supports this Budget Vote. I thank you. [Applause.].

Ms M R SHINN /sam / END OF TAKE

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Mr S E KHOLWANE

Ms M R SHINN: Chairperson, hon colleagues, it seems that the Guptas have not only taken over our air force bases but are poised to play a role in South Africa's hot air war, but more of that later.

A leadership change in government's communication service last year has allowed the expertise of the core functions of the department to take centre stage. Most of its publications are competently designed and produced. Its services to the media on behalf of government and the Cabinet are much improved, but it is hampered by Cabinet Ministers who seldom arrive on time for press conferences. The Government Communication Information System, GCIS, also shares a fault that is all too common on websites - laziness in keeping their information current.

Last year I accused this department's leadership of empire-building on steroids, of setting up a publishing operation to rival what it sees as the unsympathetic commercial media sector; and it believed that National Treasury was a bottomless pit of taxpayers' money. Luckily, fiscal sense was dispensed from Treasury as some of the GCIS programmes have been pruned. Print orders of its publication have basically been halved as it has been forced to take a more realistic view of the numbers of readers in its market. For example, the ambition to print the monthly magazine, Vukuzenzele, as a fortnight has been shelved and the print run clipped to 20,4 million copies annually.

While this publication has value in informing citizens around the country of government activities, GCIS has no way of proving that Vukuzenzele is read and that copies are not mouldering in some warehouse. Certainly, on the portfolio committee's visits to post offices and Thusong Service Centres around the country last year, few, if any, copies were found.

Keeping printers in business and spending in the budget allocation are not the measure of an effective communication strategy. An independent audit of circulation and readership is the only way to be confident that the message is reaching its intended market. This negligence in proving readership sets the GCIS apart from the professional publishers who are rigorously pressured by their clients to prove that the right message is reaching the target market and that it is properly understood. The GCIS makes no attempt to prove that its publications and some of those it supports with advertising are actually read by the intended audience.

Last year, I asked every government department how much money it spent on advertising and sponsorships with Gupta-owned newspaper, The New Age. It came to a staggering R64,1 million. Up to 76% of The New Age's advertising for the six weeks, from mid-November to the end of January last year came from government. Why government departments need to advertise when most of the public service is on holiday is puzzling. In the commercial publishing world only retailers advertise at Christmas time.

My colleagues in the ANC will howl that this amount is peanuts compared to what government spends elsewhere on advertising. This is true, but as usual, the ANC doesn't get the point. The point is that every credible publisher that has to compete in the open market for its advertising revenue has to prove to its clients that their publications are using the right vehicle to deliver their message to a specific audience that delivers the required results. This is why the Audit Bureau of Circulations certification is essential to publications whose survival depends on clients who demand delivery.

The New Age declines to have its circulation independently verified by the Audit Bureau of Circulations, ABC. Earlier this year, in response to the DA's onslaught on their government ad spend on The New Age, it released some figures of dubious quality through its own audit process. This is inadequate, and will unlikely impress the Auditor-General whom the DA has asked to investigate whether government ads spend with this newspaper is wasteful. But never fear, because the GCIS has cracked The New Age circulation puzzle.

Last year it responded to my question on whether an independent analysis was done to determine the circulation and readership of the newspaper. It replied, and I quote:

GCIS conducts regular media sampling through its provincial offices and complements this with verification of print orders and that audited circulation where available. The GCIS verified The New Age market entry deliverables as follows: 100 to 120 000 published copies per day; 24 to 32 pages daily; editorial content drawn from nine provinces, distributed through three print regions; and electronic editions available through e-paper, iPad app, Facebook, Twitter and the online edition.

I'm still quoting:

On the basis of the above analysis, The New Age was recommended as a suitable publication for government departments to use in conjunction with other mainstream and community media, particularly in support of provincial and local outreach initiatives.

As an aside, I thought that Vukuzenzele was used by government to spread its message to the areas not reached by commercial media, but I digress. I am still quoting from the GCIS's parliamentary answer:

No independent studies of advertisements are conducted to test the efficacy of advertising messages post campaign, due to the prohibitive cost of establishing an ongoing national research panel, which is sufficiently sensitive to providing feedback by publication.

And it rambles on some more.

I was intrigued that GCIS was satisfied with an audit of The New Age. So, I followed up this year with a question, asking how their audit was done. This is the reply, and I quote:

GCIS conducted a visit to The New Age premises and inspected the original print order confirmations from The New Age's subcontracted printers. Circulation is the number of newspapers that are printed and distributed each day, and can be extrapolated from the print order data. The print order reconciliations are audited by Klynveld Peat Marwick Goerdeler, KPMG, The New Age newspaper's auditors, as part of their due diligence process in testing internal audit protocols and finalising their findings on The New Age financial results.

If this opinion did not involve the spending of millions of taxpayers' money, it will be laughable. Verifying the print run is only the first step in the circulation audit of a publication. All what GCIS did was to determine that The New Age's printers weren't ripping them off.

The GCIS does absolutely nothing to determine whether the newspaper is requested by the right readers who buy it or are giving it for free. It does nothing to discover whether undelivered or unsold copies are returned unsold or unread. The GCIS's audit of The New Age would qualify for amateur hour if it were not a farce performed by public servants paid by taxpayers.

Again, the DA calls on the Auditor-General to declare that departmental spending on advertising in The New Age is fruitless and wasteful and forbids it in the coming year. It is essential to make this ruling because the GCIS encourages departments to channel their ad spend through it because it can negotiate bulk rates with all publications. This principle has merit, but it has to be done professionally and meticulously to ensure that the target market is effectively reached, and that there is no wastage.

The GCIS and its Media Development and Diversity Agency have stated their intent to re-engineer - they use the word diversify - the print media industry. They wanted the portfolio committee to believe that it is the department's patriotic duty to ensure that new, emerging media such as The New Age are given government advertising support so they can gain a firm footing against what it sees as an entrenched, old guard ANC-hostile media industry. [Interjections.]

We believe that government's support in establishing community media that serves the local interest and linguistic needs of marginalised communities and entrenches the diversity of use, is commendable. But the billionaire Guptas don't qualify for taxpayers' money to help them get established. If they believe that they're meeting a market need in South Africa, let them invest their own money to establish themselves, like every other South African publisher has had to do. If they're unwilling to do this with their own money it can only be because they are more than willing to be paid by taxpayers, to be part of and profit from the ANC's election propaganda machine.

Let us be under no illusions that the GCIS, along with the Gupta-friendly South African Broadcasting Corporation, SABC, will be used to bombard the nation with a rosy view of South Africa. The ANC's perceived dominant role is securing our constitutional democracy before next year's election.

The role of the governing party's imbongi will become increasingly apparent during the coming year. This was evident in the strategic overview of the GCIS's Media Development and Diversity Agency which declared that, and I quote:

The much-awaited policy and elective Mangaung 53rd Conference of the ANC as the ruling party confirmed continuity in the leadership of government. This suggests that very little, if any, policy changes are likely to affect the work of the Media Development and Diversity Agency, MDDA. A change in government and the current leadership could result in a change in policy approaches which could hamper the effective achievement of the organisation's mission.

On the surface, this statement may seem self-evident. My ANC colleagues in the portfolio committee howled that there was nothing wrong with a public servant expressing relief that there had not been a change of leadership in the governing party. I contend that for the purpose of exercising their duties, political leadership battles are irrelevant to public servants. Their job is to fulfil the mandate of the government. Let me emphasise, the government of the day, and not to be concerned with the internal battles of the governing party. [Applause.]

Mrs J D KILIAN / MS .../TM / END OF TAKE

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Ms M R SHINN

Mrs J D KILIAN: Hon House Chairperson, hon colleagues, hon Minister and Deputy Minister, as was the case last year, Cope wants to acknowledge the sound administrative systems and high competency levels of the senior management structure of the Government Communication and Information System, GCIS. We also commend the unqualified audits obtained last year by the GCIS and the Media Development and Diversity Agency, MDDA. This is a sign that the political and administrative leadership is serious about financial and regulatory management and compliance.

However, looking at the practical day-to-day operations, Cope wants to highlight the very serious risk and irreparable reputation damage to the GCIS: if it allows itself to become a propaganda arm of government; if it has to defend the indefensible; and if it has to ensure the public that everything is going well and all the services are delivered, whilst the public affected by those service-delivery failures experience a completely different reality - in short, if professional communicators in the GCIS are directed from Luthuli House to spin the President and his failing Ministers out of trouble.

Cope supports the GCIS mission in that it is basically and essentially empowering the people of South Africa with information that can change their lives. We fully support that. However, we also support the contention that it should communicate proactively. There is no harm in that, but we are also concerned about the stress on government achievements. We have listened to the Minister today, which was venturing into a propaganda spin. For as long as the perception management programme does not become a propaganda spin exercise in support of the governing party, we will support that.

Close to R400 million is about to be allocated to this department. Therefore, we as Parliament need to review last year's practices and determine how they will roll out in the coming, pre-election year.

I believe the Minister will forgive us if we are part of the cynical South Africans who may ask why we need a GCIS, if the dissemination of government information has effectively been surrendered to the Gupta empire, with a little help – let us be honest – of the South African Airways, SAA, the South African Broadcasting Corporation, SABC, Transnet and the like.

Let me deal with The New Age, TNA, media breakfasts. They are designed to create a platform for the rich and famous to get closer to government Ministers with sweetheart interactions from a select audience who are mostly public servants paid for by departments, and that is then relayed through public platform to South Africans. In addition to massive free publicity, TNA owners collect R100 per guest, covering at least 400% of the actual costs of the breakfast. However, the real bounty is generated from the ordinary taxpayer by means of over generous sponsorships from our parastatals like Transnet, Telkom, etc.

The question is how ethical is it to have to buy expensive tickets to a media breakfast session if you have a right to have access to information from government? We also want to know whether the GCIS can play a direct or indirect role in organising these breakfast shows. Have they done it in the past or are they doing it now?

The mutual beneficial relationship between the ANC and the Guptas certainly does not begin and end after breakfast. [Laughter.] Let's have a look at the bulk-buying function of the GCIS. As the hon Shinn indicated, the universal norm for advertising rates is based on audited circulation figures. Dumped freebie copies The New Age newspapers at airports ... [Interjections.] ... and in Parliament's offices of the SABC, cannot be such a circulation channel. On what basis can the Minister then allow the placement of public-service departmental advertisements and supplements in The New Age? The New Age has never been audited for circulation and readership figures, and has a rumoured print run of only 7 000 to 8 000 copies daily in selected areas and parastatal buildings.

The SA Social Security Agency, Sassa, advertisement is a case in point. [Interjections.] Why is this advertisement in a newspaper that is essentially distributed in government offices, when it has ... [Applause.] ... a target audience of people who need to know about the re-registration campaign to get hold of their grants? It is not a good example. [Applause.] What is the Minister doing about that?

An analysis of a randomly selected number of The New Age has revealed a shocking reality. It is clear that from 17 advertisements placed in one of the newspapers, only two were from private institutions, Total and the Ulwazi group. The rest were from parastatals. In the other newspaper where they were 19, there were only two, with the other being Blue Labels Telecoms – I don't know who that isThe rest is Sassa, South African Airways, etc. We have Telkom, Transnet, and we can go on and on.

It is clear that The New Age is not a viable and independent daily newspaper but a propaganda paper in the style of The Citizen. Can I remind you that even in the worst days of apartheid that compelled the leader of that party to resign?

The question is who benefits? Is The New Age roll-out part of the national communication strategy of government or of the ANC? Is it a mechanism to channel public funds towards the business empire of the Guptas who have a too cosy relationship with the President of our country and his family, or is it a mechanism to ultimately channel money into the election coffers of the ANC for next year's election? [Interjections.] The fact of the matter is that public money is currently being spent, and is being round tripped from the public purse into some peoples' back pockets. We need to know where that goes to. [Applause.]

That brings us to the rapid response function of the department. The GCIS' handling of the Waterkloof Air Force Base disaster was seriously conflicted. They were quiet for three long days. It was only on 3 May that they paraded a gallery of senior Ministers. Yes, from the hon Greg ...

... shame man, I just wanted to remind him because he forgot that it was Mr Gwede Mantashe who responded. Government was silent about this. [Tnterjections.] ...

Secondly, is it necessary for the GCIS to comment on the tensions within the alliance? Why comment and release a media statement about the fight between the Minister of Basic Education and SA Democratic Teachers Union, Sadtu? Why get involved in the dirty linen issue between the Minister and Sadtu? That is not a government function. Rather explain to the parents and the teachers who are affected, why teachers are not in school, teaching. Tell them when education services will proceed again ... [Interjections.] ... and when the teachers will be back in their classrooms.

Why defend the rights of Ministers to use private health care? That is what is on the GCIS website. It is right there. [Time expired.] [Applause.]

Mr C D KEKANA / AZM MNGUNI//TH / END OF TAKE

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Mrs J D KILIAN

Mr C D KEKANA: Chairperson, the hon Minister in the Presidency Chabane, hon Deputy Minister, Members of Parliament, ladies and gentlemen, thank you for this opportunity to speak on the Government Communication and Information System, GCIS.

We have been told that the main task of GCIS has been to communicate government information, what government does, and deliverables from the government to our masses. Some of those masses are in faraway remote areas and, as a result, some of the communication in the past did not reach them. That is why the first thing that GCIS – thanks, Ma Storey – realised was that we need to transform communication in the country. That transformation was supposed to take place in the following areas: ownership, distribution, content, and languages.

Let me just speak briefly about ownership. The media, especially the print media, in the main is owned and that type of ownership needed to be transformed. It needed to be transformed so that, instead of just having big media houses, we would also have small commercial media and also community media. These are the types of media that are found now in disadvantaged areas like the rural areas and the townships in the urban areas. The other part of that transformation is that in the media houses' newsrooms, you need to implement transformation in line with the policies of the ANC government: transformation of race discrimination, gender discrimination, and disability discrimination. This type of transformation must take place in the media newsrooms.

A lot has already been achieved in South Africa, if we compare it to other countries, especially in the rural areas which are not easy for anybody to develop, because of a lack of facilities and backwardness still found there. We really need to resource the community media that is in the rural areas. Otherwise, if we don't, we will be setting them up for failure. This government is already finding means and ways to resource them better because remember, all along, communication in South Africa has been dominated by big media.

It is very important to also point out that there are achievements in South Africa. I just want to highlight that by mentioning that in agriculture, for example ... no, she is being naughty because I am busy. [Laughter.] [Interjections.] Alright, you have it. I hear the money is being pocketed in the back pocket. Mine is in the inside pocket of my jacket. [Laughter.] I just wanted to say that analysts in South Africa have mentioned the achievement of communication in our media, especially government media, by saying that in agriculture, where we want to beneficiate and manufacture agricultural raw material in South Africa, there has been a great improvement in our agriculture. This is because people who are in agriculture for the first time are receiving information about different agricultural activities that they can embark on. They have a broad choice of selecting which agricultural activities they want to be involved in.

Look at Johannesburg, for example, where they are slaughtering 10 000 heads of cattle a day in the abattoir, to supply in the demand in Johannesburg, as well as 15 000 sheep a day. All the remains of skin go into footwear and a lot of agricultural people are realising that there is a big market, if you do livestock farming, because the end product is that we are no longer exploiting our raw material. In fact, in the value chain, about two levels of that – treating the skin and so on – is done in Johannesburg, which is part of manufacturing. I have heard that in diamonds, in Botswana, this also comes from communication. In diamonds, with Botswana now being the number one world producer of diamonds in the Kgalagadi, two levels of the value chain of diamond production is beneficiated in Botswana. When we hear all these things about ourselves and neighbouring states, that is important information that becomes available for South Africans to know how best to handle their economic activities. They can then copy the good practise from other countries, their neighbours, and also from their own neighbours within South Africa.

So, I just mentioned that because I wanted to highlight how important communication is, especially in a developmental state where we need to create jobs. This communication, in the past it has just been in the favour of the rich. We want media communication to be in the favour of even the poor. We have to use it to develop jobs. I have heard that in education somebody asked why there was an alliance issue. It is part of communication to communicate all kinds of deliverables, not just terms of sewerage or dustbins, but also in education, because if we don't skill this nation, there will never be development in this nation.

The educating and training of artisans and all kinds of skills are very important. Unless we communicate that to our nation, we will be failing in our effort to communicate what the government is tasked to perform. I wish to support this budget. Thank you. [Applause.]

Ms L L VAN DER MERWE /Mia / END OF TAKE

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Mr C D KEKANA

Ms L L VAN DER MERWE: Hon Chairperson, hon Minister, hon Members of Parliament, it is a great privilege for me to participate in my first Budget Vote today, cognisant of our collective responsibility as the vanguards of South Africa's prosperity and wellbeing. [Applause.] Thank you.

Central to all we do is communication. Communication is the tool through which we can correct the social injustices of our past. It is the very tool that can have profound effects in terms of enabling people to lead the type of lives and attain the type of freedoms they have always dreamed of.

Let me therefore, from the outset, state that the IFP will support this Budget Vote because of the critically important role we believe that the Government Communication and Information System, GCIS, has to play in promoting an educated, informed citizenry. Let me just also hasten to add that the IFP shares the concerns that have been raised by my colleagues in the DA and Cope with regard to The New Age and the Guptas' influence on government communication. [Interjections.]

We recognise that the leadership of the GCIS has made great strides over the past financial year. However, I am sure that the GCIS will accept that there is always room for improvement in the execution of its important mandate. During a recent interaction with the leadership of the GCIS, I raised what I believe to be two critical issues: the need for a clear distinction, at all times, between the ruling party and the state, and between information and propaganda. There is no doubt that we live in a world of spin where government public relations is important. However, it should never be more important than government's core business.

This is clearly the thornier issue of this debate. We have seen the growth of government communications' agencies in managing political debate. We have seen citizens being fed a steady diet of good-news stories instead of a healthy diet of news to educate them. We have seen a shift, often, where the public has not been provided with public information in the public's interest but is provided with a healthy dose of stories to make government look good.

A quick glance at Vuk'uzenzele is a case in point. Between all the stories of new courts opening, jobs being created, social grants being increased and government giving hope to the hopeless – which we welcome, of course – I did not see one story educating citizens on how to access their rights if they were not the beneficiaries of these services. Surely, when service delivery protests rock a community, or when a child with a disability is unable to access education, or when a grandmother from a far-flung rural area is unable to access transport or quality health care, it is not reasonable to provide those citizens with flowery, feel-good stories only.

This is a matter that goes to the very heart of our democracy. Our citizens must be equipped with practical and useful information to better their lives. Information that empowers. Information that educates. Nothing less.

The IFP also notes that while the communication and information aspect of the GCIS at national level is satisfactory, the communication abilities of provinces and municipalities leave much to be desired. Many Thusong Service Centres are in a state of disrepair and are failing because no one seems willing to take responsibility for their management, while there is often little buy-in from other spheres of government. Yet, Thusong Service Centres are the very mechanism that has been put in place to communicate with the ordinary South African. Without functioning Thusong Service Centres, the success of the GCIS to communicate its work to communities, especially rural communities, must be called into question.

A few examples bear testimony. The Mkhupula Thusong Centre in Msinga has no electricity. The Mbazwana Thusong Centre in Mkhanyakude has no centre manager, and provincial departments have failed to come on board. This has negatively impacted upon service delivery in that community. We implore the leadership of the GCIS, again, to engage all stakeholders in this regard, so that the failing centres can be resuscitated as a matter of urgency.

The sheer volume of publications still remains a cause for concern. Vuk'uzenzele is just one in a slew of GCIS media. Yet, for many of these publications produced by the GCIS, the readership figures are unclear and may be considered relatively unstable. Thus, an excessive amount is still being spent to print a variety of publications, the success of which cannot be verified. We believe the GCIS must review the effectiveness of each publication and determine whether it really reaches its intended audience and its intended outcomes. For example, one can just start by looking at this very glossy Public Sector Manager magazine that is distributed to all of us and very widely in the public sector, and enquire whether these are read or just simply dumped, because I have seen many of them dumped around Parliament.

In a country such as ours, where the majority of our adult population has access to cellphones, it makes sense to communicate with our citizens via mobile platforms. This will be a step in the right direction to ensure that we reduce printing costs and wastage, as the dumping of undelivered and unread publications, nationwide, is, without a doubt, a major problem. The move to mobile platforms must be expedited. I also note that, while Vuk'uzenzele has an online platform, it is outdated. The last publication listed was from last year.

The Media Development and Diversity Agency continues to make great strides in developing community media. The importance of community media can never be underestimated. Not only does it often give a voice to the voiceless, but it can have a profound effect, in many instances, on the development of our communities. We applaud the good work that is being done in this regard.

We know that an informed electorate is critically important to deepening our democracy. The IFP therefore pledges our support to the GCIS in pursuance of this fundamental, national goal. I thank you. [Applause.]

Ms A Z NDLAZI /Robyn/ END OF TAKE

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L L VAN DER MERVE

Ms A Z NDLAZI: Chairperson, hon Minister in the Presidency - Performance, Monitoring and Evaluation as well as Administration, hon Deputy Minister in the Presidency, hon members, staff members from Government Communication and Information System, GCIS, it is indeed an honour for me to join my fellow colleagues and participate in this debate. And I will focus on Thusong Service Centres as a programme of government. This achievement marks yet another milestone in the overall transformation of the service delivery mechanisms of the ANC-led government.

Thusong Service Centres programme affords us, as the ANC, a rare moment to reflect not only on the achievements of government in extending vital services to our people, but also, the challenges we face in this process.

Thusong Service Centres were established, as we in this democratic dispensation say, as means to an end, not an end to themselves. And these centres, although there is still much work to be done to strengthen them, are starting to serve the high developmental ends, which are places for community development and empowerment; and above all, they are places where participation can be realised. This ideal is paramount in the National Development Plan, the ideal of active citizenship working closely with government to better their lives and promote development locally. As such, many centres around the country are bearing fruits.

Thusong Service Centres, then called Multi-Purpose Community Centres, MPCCs, was initiated in 1999. And it was to extend government services in an integrated way, primarily to rural communities and to address historical factors that limit citizens to access government information and services.

In 2005, Cabinet approved the Second Generation Business Plan for the programme, indicating that by 2014 there should be, at least, one such centre in each of the 283 municipalities. The establishment should be a combination of central hubs, satellites and mobile units.

The overall objectives of the programme are to bring government information and services closer to the people and to promote access and opportunities as a basis for improved livelihoods; to build sustainable partnerships between government, business and civil society; to create a platform for greater dialogue between citizens and government; to introduce information and communications technology to communities; to promote computer literacy and access to technology.

We do have successful Thusong Service Centres in the country, and just about every province has a story to tell about their successes.

Over the past quarter, that is, from January to March 2013, more than 1,2 million people were serviced in the Thusong Service Centres and the mobile units.

Training on Batho Pele customer care was provided to both centre managers and service providers to ensure that the community is serviced with dignity and care.

Here are some successful Thusong centres. There is a Mpumalanga Thusong, where the programme is co-ordinated by the Department for Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs. There is also a Dududu Thusong Service Centre in Kwazulu-Natal, where there was an outreach to take a girl child to work during the child protection week. There is also a Kgomotsego Thusong Service Centre in the Northern Cape, where there is a centre that provides information for all local and foreign tourists travelling to Namibia and the Kgalagadi National Park.

There is also a Laingsburg Thusong Service Centre, where they also run a soup kitchen. There are some activities in the centre, including community gymnasium, choir and band practices to keep the youth off the streets. More than 2 000 community members access the centre on a monthly basis to access government services and information. [Applause.]

There is also a Mamelodi Thusong Service Centre in Gauteng, where the success story is that there was a couple that was living together for 30 years, and tied the knot in the Thusong Centre using the services of the Department of Home Affairs. The average usage of the centre per month is about 20 000.

Thusong Service Centres serve as an effective means of bringing information, in a two-way process, to the communities in a manner that ensures government and citizen interaction. We want to congratulate the Minister and his team for the sterling work in ensuring that our people become active participants in improving their lives and building the nation. [Applause.] [Interjections.] The ANC supports this Budget Vote. [Applause.]

THE DEPUTY MINISTER IN THE PRESIDENCY – PERFORMANCE, MONITORING AND EVALUATION AS WELL AS ADMINISTRATION / MALUTA ///tfm/// End of TAKE

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Ms A Z NDLAZI

The DEPUTY MINISTER IN THE PRESIDENCY: PERFORMANCE MONITORING AND EVALUATION, AS WELL AS ADMINISTRATION IN THE PRESIDENCY: Thank you House Chairperson, Chairperson of the portfolio committee, Minister in the Presidency - Performance Monitoring and Evaluation, Comrade and hon Collins Chabane, hon members, honoured quests, members of the GCIS management and staff present, members of the Media Development and Diversity Agency, MDDA, Board: management and staff present, members of the media present, particularly the community radio media, friends and comrades, ladies and gentlemen, I have a slight flu, but it is not the flu that I am experiencing in the House, the Gupta or The New Age, TNA, flu, which only seems to be caught by the opposition and not the ruling party. I am not sure. The hon Minister Collins Chabane will have to assume the role of a traditional healer and cure it later.

Today I feel privileged to stand before this House and deliver this Budget Vote speech, as we celebrate Africa month and the 50th anniversary of the OAU under the theme "Pan Africanism and African Renaissance". This 50th anniversary is expected to facilitate and celebrate African narratives of the past, the present and the future. As a country and a continent, we are acutely aware of the role that a strong and diverse media plays in meeting these expectations.

The mandate of the OAU was to decolonise and unite Africa. Ultimately, decolonisation produced moments of inspiration, promise and greater political power, but failed to transform issues of, amongst others, economies and indigenous languages. The new mandate of the AU is to fulfill vision 2063 so that issues such as diminishing indigenous languages can come to the fore through diverse media platforms.

We take this opportunity to congratulate the community radio stations that reach out to almost 80% of our communities in their own indigenous languages, including the South African broadcasting corporation "Koisan language", which is now broadcast on radio. Ten years ago, the fruits of government's tireless work and efforts were realised with the launch of the Media Development and Diversity Agency, MDDA. It is important to reflect on the original concept of the MDDA in order to understand better and appreciate the current work of the Agency.

The concept of the MDDA was rooted in the founding consensus of our democracy. At its heart is the understanding that our nation's legacy of imbalances and exclusions had to be overcome through a partnership of all sectors of society if our vision of a new society had to become a reality for all South Africans. The MDDA was informed by the belief that if we address some of our fundamental problems in the media environment then the issues of content and diversity of opinion will start to take care of themselves.

However, we have not fully realised this goal because we need a bit of a push and we need an MDDA that is more empowered. This Parliament, in recognising the exclusion and marginalisation of disadvantaged communities and persons from access to the media and the media industry, resolved to establish the MDDA as an agency in terms of the MDDA Act No 14 of 2002, in partnership with the major print and broadcast media industry to help create an enabling environment for media development and diversity that is conducive to public discourse and which reflects the needs and aspirations of South Africans. I must state here that, indeed, we have achieved this goal.

Today we have overtaken countries such as Mali, Burkina Faso and others in a very progressive and enabling environment that exists in our country. They were number one at the time when we started, but today South Africa is now leading in that particular environment, including exceeding countries such as the United States, Canada and Australia. I think that is something worth celebrating. [Applause.]

This is consistent with the freedom of expression provisions enshrined in our Constitution, section 16 (1) and access to information provisions laid in section 32 of the Constitution, Act 108 of 1996 and the MDDA Act.

The mandate of the MDDA is to encourage the ownership, control and access to media by historically disadvantaged communities as well as the historically diminished indigenous languages and cultural groups, with a view to promote support and encourage diverse media.

However, as we are all aware in this House, the majority of media in our country is still owned by four large publishing groups. According to the survey done by the South African Audit of Circulation, that has been quoted so many times here, there are at least 29 commercial newspapers written in English, and just a handful written in other indigenous languages and most of those written in indigenous languages are regionally based. You only find them in certain provinces, not nationally. So, 29 national newspapers are published in English or Afrikaans and the indigenous languages are excluded. This calls upon us, therefore, to reflect, debate, and provide solutions on our way. I will then leave that obviously to the able committee of communications to reflect on that particular issue as we celebrate the 20 years of democracy. When we look at those 20 years of democracy, we ought to identify challenges still outstanding in the society so that we could then be able to deal with those challenges.

As the Chairperson of the portfolio committee has indicated, it is also important to remember that it is 20 years since the first broadcast by the first SA community radio, Bush Radio. They were on air on 25 April 1993, headed by Ms Brenda Leornard. I understand she is in the House with us here. Zibonele community radio, in Khayelitsha, started at the same time as a primary health station under the current leadership of Mr Mzamo Mngomana. I hope he is also in the House. Similarly, it is also 20 years of the National Community Radio Forum. The story about how this started - I think it ought to be shared and told.

A young student from the University of the Western Cape, who today is the CEO of MDDA, started as a student at the time, but in the print media, the alternative media was everywhere, Cape Town had Grassroot, Pretoria had the Eye, Gauteng had the New Nation and all sorts of newspapers. He then felt that a radio station was needed, and he applied for a license, but the National Party government of apartheid refused him a license. He decided to go live on that day. Unfortunately, he was raided and all his equipment was taken away. So he could not be live on the 25th but the attempt to do so was there.

Then a similar project called "Zibonele" started. Their platform was the promotion of primary health, and that one was issued. However, the first license obviously had to wait for the new democratic government of the ANC while in 1995 through the Independent Broadcasting Authority, IBA, we gave the first license to the Pietermaritzburg radio station, which is still alive and live today. [Applause.] I think we ought to tell this story.

Secondly, since then we have 120 community radio stations today across the land, 80 of them live and broadcasting. I think that is a big achievement from 1994 until today, which we also need to celebrate. We have over 400 community platforms such as newspapers including the community radio, plus the community television channels that are now beginning to emerge, that give alternative platforms for communities to access information, entertainment, and education, so that they are informed as citizens of this country.

I am pleased to report also that the commitment and hard work of the MDDA has been shown through the many deliverables, including the unqualified audit reports since its establishment. I think everyone has attested to it. The Agency has also made a mark in developing and diversifying the media landscape, though with meagre resources. Since 2004, it received a budget of R233 million accumulatively. I am not sure how much of that money goes into helping the more than 400 projects they take care of to ensure that training of the media people, management and finance issues are attended to, so that you do not start community radio stations or circulate newspapers then six months or two years down the line, they are all gone. Therefore, that project ought to be supported. I therefore hope that as we appropriate money through the GCIS and whatever goes to the MDDA, we need to appreciate their work.

In addition, they also trained over 1 800 people, provided 147 bursaries to different radio and print media. As the Chair has indicated, the Agency has also created almost approximately 300 direct and indirect jobs, held seminars promoting media literacy and the culture of reading.

Workshops were also conducted on the corporate governance toolkit that they have developed to assist all these community stations to be viable, sustainable and lasting as the democracy matures. The Agency also held training sessions with its beneficiaries on issues of financial management, compliance with funding agreements, and other key corporate governance issues. I think that is something we ought to keep ensuring that the MDDA does.

In 2013-14 Strategic and Business Plan, in addition to other projects, the MDDA plans to continue supporting more projects. Firstly, it plans to support at least one community radio station in every community. Secondly, it will support one community magazine, thirdly, one commercial newspaper and magazine in each district municipality. Lastly, the agency also plans to support at least one community television channel in each province. They also plan to conduct a study on the social impact of community radio.

The MDDA plans to continue with interventions in respect of promotion of media literacy and culture of reading in all provinces using all our indigenous languages, including the sign language. I hope they will also have to venture into that. Increasing on the focus of 2013-14, we will continue to champion the media transformation discourse. That will include media diversity ownership and control. I think other speakers have spoken about the fact that media control remains a challenge in the country.

Parliament will hear progress on these inquiries conducted on a range of issues impacting on the mandate of the MDDA. As we celebrate 20 years of democracy, let us look into the mandate of the MDDA and see whether it is about time that we reflect, review and empower it so that it accelerates delivery on its mandate. The money that has been coming from the broadcasting partners has been spent well.

However, the print media has not been doing well in terms of their contribution. They are supposed to give 0,2% of their turnover, which is also very little. As we review the mandate, we should perhaps look at whether the print media cannot contribute more. As the broadcasters, they have merged, engaged and agreed to increase their annual contribution. The rest of the money comes from the government and yet this is supposed to be a partnership with the industry to make sure that the MDDA, indeed, is able to fulfil its objectives.

Mr D A KGANARE: [Inaudible.]

The DEPUTY MINISTER IN THE PRESIDENCY: PERFORMANCE MONITORING AND EVALUATION, AS WELL AS ADMINISTRATION IN THE PRESIDENCY: Well, that sickness and the flu that I spoke about, is still infecting you. So, you will have to see the doctor here.

The government will continue to support and uplift the work of the MDDA in order to make a meaningful impact in creating an enabling environment for media development and diversity. Transformation in the media is still a challenge, gender is an issue and very few editors are women. I think we also need to engage with and ask the media industry what they are doing about programmes that affirm senior reporters, senior journalists and editors.

We also have to look at how the media reports on issues of SADC and issues of the continent. There are SADC media awards, and South Africa struggles to get stories to enter that competition. In June, when the SADC Heads of States will be meeting, you will find that we will not win any prizes because we do not have stories that talk about cross boarder issues, SADC integration, SADC communities, SADC issues of economy because the media in South Africa is domestically focused. It does not look at the integration of the region and yet it ought to be also looking at those particular stories.

We also have to look at the transformation in the print media because I know there were submissions to Parliament around the issues of advertising in particular. We should follow up on those recommendations and see if advertisements cannot help the community radio stations, because community radio stations combined have eight million listenership and the commercial adverts can help. Therefore, it will not only be the government that is streaming the money, but also commercial elements will also do. The distribution network is still a monopoly and a challenge for many newspapers. The Audit Bureau Circulations, ABC, itself is a monopoly. So there is still a lot of monopoly that exist within the media space and the media industry. We need to bring those issues to the fore and ensure that we deal with them.

I want to take the opportunity to thank the MDDA partners who continue to commit their support to this particular environment. I also want to thank the board of the MDDA, which was led by Ms Gugu Msibi who completed her 5-years tenure as a Chairperson of the Agency, and the Management team led by Mr Lumko Mtimde. The Agency under Ms Msibi's leadership has been able and stable, performed maximally and received unqualified audit reports. I wish the new Chairperson of the Agency, Ms Phelisa Nkomo, and the new board members good luck. Please keep the standard.

In conclusion, I want to leave you with this profound quote from a Bhuddist Monk:

Do not force others, including children, by any means whatsoever, to adopt your views, whether by authority, threat, money, propaganda or even education. However, through compassionate dialogue, help others renounce fanaticism and narrowness.

This is therefore a call to all community, commercial and public radio stations to promote and instill values of social cohesion and patriotism among others in our communities. Thank you very much. [Applause.]

Ms A F MUTHAMBI C.I / END OF TAKE

UNREVISED HANSARD

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THE DEPUTY MINISTER IN THE PRESIDENCY: PERFORMANCE AND EVALUATION

Ms A F MUTHAMBI: Hon Chairperson, hon Minister Collins Chabane, hon Deputy Minister Obed Bapela, hon members and distinguished guests, it is with great pleasure that I address this House on the occasion of the Government Communications and Information System Budget Vote, which will be turning 15 years on 18 March.

I want to echo my colleague, hon Ndlazi, in congratulating the hon Minister and Government Communications and Information System, GCIS, management team led by the Acting chief executive officer, CEO, Ms Phumla Williams, for the sterling work they have done in ensuring that the voice of government is heard across the length and breadth of our beautiful country. [Applause.]

Purposeful and concise information between government and its citizens is a moral obligation and also a pragmatic practice that originates from the very principle of democracy. To this end, today we have noticed that there were communication activations that have been organised in various places across the country to market and popularise the work of the government and in particular, this Budget Vote.

Napoleon and other great men like Isaac Newton, Shakespeare and many others were makers of empires. I call them makers of the universe but some of them were only repairers. Newton made a universe which lasted for 300 years. Einstein has made a universe which I suppose you want me to say, it will never stop. But I don't know how long will it last.

Although great men and eminent men have monuments, bronze, and marbles setup for them, but amongst the great men ever produced in South Africa, there is a man of divine and peace who became enshrined in millions and millions of hearts in the world so that all of us become somewhat of the stuff that he is made of. Though to an infinitely lesser degree, that man is none other than former President Nelison Rolihlahla Mandela. Mandela's wisdom and action continue to inspire our people, especially his lifelong struggle for democracy and passion for service delivery.

We, the ANC, the majority party in Parliament and the oldest liberation movement in the continent, are thrilled by how GCIS is being managed and its continued achievements of clean audits year after year. Importantly, it stays consistently within its mandate which was endorsed by this Parliament 15 years ago. To our distinguished members of staff present here today - there they are on my left hand side – we are saying, keep it up and sustain the momentum for we cannot postpone our people's hunger for developmental information.

Hon Chairperson, allow me to state that South Africa continues to be better than before April 1994. To my dearest and hon colleague, hon Killian, you talk about the SABC's Breakfast Show. What a concept, where South African citizens, for the first time in our life time, can talk to their President, Ministers, premiers including the Premier of the Western Cape, hon Hellen Zille. This shows that as a democratic government we are committed to ensure that all South Africans have access to information that will enable them to change their lives.

It is indeed befitting to indicate that the ANC-led government has made qualitative advances in transforming South Africa into a nonracial, nonsexist and democratic society.

Xitsonga:

Mutshamaxitulu, mfumo wa ANC wu ya emahlweni na ku humelela loku vonakaka xikan'we na ku khomeka hi tlhelo ra ku cinca ka vutomi bya vaakatiko. Wu cinca vutomi bya vaakatiko leswaku byi va eka xiyimo xo antswa hi tlhelo ra swilaveko swo fana na dyondzo, rihanyu, nhluvukiso wa tindhawu ta le makaya , ku nyikiwa ka misava, ku tumbuluxa mitirho na ku lwa na vugevenga.

English:

Visible and tangible progress in changing people's lives for the better has been achieved, particularly in the following areas of our election manifesto priorities.

In education, there are now 192 621 registered Early Childhood Development, ECD, centres with just under 845 000 children receiving ECD and partial care services. This is an achievement in laying the critical foundation for our future generation. The past year has also shown an increase in the number of children that passed their matriculation examinations. Universities have equally recorded an increase in the intake of students, especially from the previously marginalised communities.

In health, the life expectancy of South Africans has increased from 56 years in 2009 to 60 years in 2011. South Africa was announced by the United Nations as one of the countries with the most successful programme on HIV/Aids. Just recently, the hon Minister of Health announced a single pill dosage for the HIV/Aids patients again further improving the quality of life of HIV patients. The South African government, led by the ANC, continues to honour its commitment to better the lives of all South Africans.

The ANC government is committed to redress the untold injustices that were brought to rural communities wherein their social settings, cultures and family structures were destroyed. Small black farming communities were destroyed. Through our land reform programme, we have managed to restore the dignity of our communities.

On Thusong Service Centres that have been setup countrywide, as hon Ndlazi has highlighted, we have ensured that the services of government are brought closer to communities. I should hasten to say that government mid-term review will assist us to take stock on some of the failures we have experienced and assist us to forge ahead in further restoring the dignity of the rural communities.

On job creation, so far the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform's National Rural Youth Services Corps has enrolled 11 740 young people in various training programmes. The recently signed Youth Employment Accord by government, labour and business is again taking the challenge of unemployment facing the country, the young people in particular, to a higher level. It is lightening to note that all the parties, through the true spirit of patriotism, have committed to work with government in addressing the issue of unemployment. Government has also intensified its efforts around infrastructure development to grow our economy and importantly to create jobs. In support of these initiatives, GCIS has contributed by producing a booklet that offers young people information that can assist them in tapping-in opportunities available in government.

On fighting crime, the annual national crime statistics that are released by the SA Police Service continues to show the decline in certain types of crime. To address the continued challenges of gender-based violence and abuse of children, the National Council on Gender-Based Violence was established in 2012. Government has increased personnel in the Family Violence and the Child Protection and Sexual Offences units. GCIS has continued to provide communities with information around issues of gender-based violence.

The National Development Plan, the country's vision of what our country would be in the year 2030, provides priorities which seek to reduce inequalities in our society, poverty and unemployment. This plan provides a framework that was collaboratively developed by government and South Africans. As this ANC government drives its implementation within the available resources, information dissemination will be central. It will be critical to take society along working towards this 2030 vision as spelt out in the National Development Plan. Despite all these, the battle of ideas is being waged between the theoretical and practical underpinnings of the democratic developmental state and neoliberal paradigm.

Media continue to publish negative news on government disregarding its good service delivery record. The media continues to distort and ignore information provided by government in a transparent and accountable manner.

The ANC, which is the majority party in Parliament, will never allow a situation where our citizens are denied information on government policies and programmes. We will ensure that the ANC-led government has a proactive and co-ordinated government communications. In this regard, hon Minister, Government Communications and Information System should be strengthened for it to be able to co-ordinate information flow among different departments and among all three spheres of government.

South Africa is a developmental state as my colleagues have indicated. The definition of this approach by Mora Quebral succinctly confirms the above as follows, and I quote:

Development communication is the art and science of human communication applied to the speedy transformation of a country and the mass of its people from poverty to a dynamic state of economic growth that makes possible greater social equality and the larger fulfilment of the human potential.

Furthermore, the development communication approach has the following characteristics. It is responsive; relies on feedback; it must be creative and innovative; it is about continuity and sustainability; use of local languages that community members will understand; and it fosters unmediated communication.

It is our firm belief and understanding that the use of development communication approach will go a long way in creating an active citizenry which is capable of meaningfully participating and taking advantage of the opportunities of our democracy. As such, the negative reporting by most media houses will never find space in the minds and hearts of our people who continue to vote for us.

We, the ANC, are quite aware of the negative agenda of those who are opposed to our strategic objective of creating a nonracial, nonsexist, prosperous and democratic society. It's an objective reality that part of their strategy will be to use media to spread lies and misinformation as they are already doing. The ANC-led government will never abdicate its responsibilities of continuing to inform and educate our citizens on our achievements and programs of our democratic government.

The Izimbizo approach to public participation resonates well with what the majority of citizens in this country understand. It promotes two-way communication and interaction between the elected representatives and the citizens. It strengthens participatory democracy and accountability.

The people's movement, which is the majority party in this House -the ANC - fully supports the idea of Izimbizo which includes repeat visits. Feedback remains critical on commitments made during the previous visits. Failure to provide feedback will make our people to lose trust in their democratic government, which is a situation which we, the ANC, will never allow.

We are living in a society where information technology has advanced and information flows in a speed of lightning. In this regard, the use of social media has increased dramatically, particularly among the young generations. We have no doubt in our minds that GCIS has the necessary capability of ensuring that government communications across all spheres of government is able to interact with our citizens in the mediums of their choice, for example, Twitter, Facebook, Mxit, etc.

Indeed, South Africa still experiences backlogs in terms of broadband and other network challenges. This situation cannot be allowed to continue like that. Government Communication working with the Department of Communications should profile all those areas that are without broadband and connectivity.

The government's Thusong Services Centres programme, formerly known as the multi-purpose community centres, have been identified as the primary approach for the implementation of developmental communication and information. These centres offer a wide range of services that communities can use for their own empowerment.

These one-stop centres integrate community for their Integrated Development Planning, IDPs, as the IDP is the entry point for any development initiative at local level. We have no doubt that the Government Communications will double their efforts in the marketing and promotions of these centres for their maximum usage because we cannot allow them to collapse or to become white elephants. Their collapse will mean denying our people the much-needed services closer to where they live.

We are pleased that the Government Communications continues to find innovative and create communication platforms of showcasing government achievements and successes in the implementation of the government's five priorities. The introduction of the weekly electronic newsletter, My District Today, is yet another positive step in the right direction. [Applause.]

The ANC-led government will be implementing the broadcasting digital migration programme in not so distance future. The programme will, with its many benefits, ensure that the digital television technology is accessed by all, especially the poor thereby bridging the digital divide. We are confident that Government Communications in partnership with the lead department, the Department of Communications, DOC, will embark on sustained multifaceted and integrated communications campaigns to create awareness on the digital migration programme.

Our country will be celebrating 20 years of democracy next year. We, the ANC, the people's movement and the majority party in Parliament, are proud of the many advances we have scored in our efforts to create better life for all. As we celebrate the success of our democracy, we should not forget to maximise the use of community media. Government Communications should continue to work with community media to profile successes of our democracy and opportunities created. Platforms should be created to showcase beneficiaries of government programmes.

The battle of ideas could only be won if enough capacity is built amongst communicators. We, the ANC and the ruling party, support the Government Communications' effort to train communicators across the board.

We, the ANC and the majority party in this House, regard communication as a strategic tool to speed service delivery. It is our considered view that Government Communications needs to be fully capacitated and resourced for it to achieve its mandate. The successful implementation of all the elements of the National Communications Strategy will require additional funding.

The ANC supports GCIS and Media Development and Diversity Agency, MDDA, Budget Vote.

Mr A C STEYN /Arnold / GC / END OF TAKE

UNREVISED HANSARD

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Ms A F MUTHAMBI

Mr A C STEYN: Hon Chairperson, hon Minister and Deputy Minister, hon members and distinguished guests, at the outset, let me remind this House what the primary role of GCIS is. It is to co-ordinate government communication systems that ensure that the public is informed about government's policies, plans and programmes.

Purposeful, as the hon Muthambi has said, and concise communication between government and its citizens is a moral obligation – to which I agree - that originates from the first principles of democracy. Since people are affected by decisions made by governmental bodies, they have a right to know how the decisions were made.

In his budget speech last year, the hon Minister said, and I quote:

It is as important for government to create tangible and practical opportunities for a better life as it is to let people know, in the first place, that these opportunities exist.

However, this should also allow for the views and opinions of the public to be heard. Therefore, let us investigate how government, through the GCIS, informs the citizens about these opportunities.

The GCIS, in addition to pamphlets printed by individual departments as we see during budget debates, primarily attempts to do this by printing 20,4 million newspapers annually, and to their credit, just over 5 000 copies in Braille. I want to emphasise this printing 20,4 million newspapers, the Vuk'uzenzele, as many people have said.

I emphasised the printing thereof because the distribution of these 20,4 million newspapers to the public is a different story. One of the methods of distribution is through an agreement with the SA Post Office to host 'information stands' populated, not only with the Vuk'uzenzele, but other government information, be it from Home Affairs on how to access the many services they offer, to Health and other social services offered by government.

I referred to this last year, and I want to repeat it today. This is a good initiative because it is well known that the SA Post Office has a huge footprint across the country, and in particular in our rural areas. Unfortunately, our oversight visits have revealed that these information stands are often not present at all in post offices, and where they are found, they are usually empty!

Unlike the comment made by the hon Schneemann when he said people have taken and read them, which is in fact not the case, because when we ask questions from the Post Office staff, they simply say that they haven't received any information. So, there was nothing for people to take to begin with. This method of communication does not allow for the views and opinions of members of the public to be heard.

Communications functions that are considered strong typically do not rely on traditional print media alone to communicate with external stakeholders. Such strong functions develop innovative initiatives and place a high priority on electronic communications. While not speaking about social media specifically, the high levels of adoption of social media require government communications functions to understand and use social media as part of the overall communications mix.

I am therefore encouraged by the acknowledgement from the GCIS in its strategic plan that the growth in digital and mobile communications presents government with the opportunity and challenge to engage interactively with citizens and stakeholders, and to join in social conversations rather than produce one-way communication.

Unfortunately, GCIS has not indicated yet how they intend to utilise this platform to communicate with communities. The other method of two-way communication, particularly for the older generation is face to face interaction. In this regard, and a lot of my colleagues have touched on it, the Thusong Service Centres should fill this vacuum.

I touched on this last year as well, but since there hasn't been much improvement generally, it is worth repeating again. These centres are the main vehicles that are used to provide services in predominantly rural communities and underserviced townships. The vision of the Thusong programme is to ensure access to integrated government information and services to build a better quality of life for all.

Unfortunately, the efficient and sustainable use of the vast majority of these centres remains a service that is provided on paper only. Committee oversight visits revealed the following – and I have taken it from committee reports, so some of the issues mentioned around Thusong Centres by my colleagues, make me wonder if we were on the same oversight visits.

However, some of the issues revealed and adopted by the committee in the committee reports are the following: There is underutilisation of centres in that many centres provide minimal services whilst some, as I mentioned in last year's debate, are in fact locked up and stand abandoned; various Thusong centres are operating without lease agreements in place, and the ownership of the building being used is often unknown or in dispute, contributing to the lack of maintenance because nobody takes responsibility. Where such ownership or authority is known, rent by service providers including GCIS, has not been paid for many years.

In Mpumalanga, centres are owned by the provincial Department of Local Government. In the Free State, they are owned by the Department of the Premier, while in North West and Gauteng, the ownership of the structures are vested in the local municipalities. In the Western Cape, the Thusong Service Centre programme was transferred from the Department of Social Development to the Department of Local Government.

Because of the problems described above, it is often difficult to identify the authority that must take responsibility and exercise oversight over these centres. That brings us to the all-important question: What should be done to ensure integrated service delivery through the Thusong centres? Well, I will tell you what can be done.

In the DA-controlled Western Cape Province, the Directorate of Service Delivery in the Department of Local Government has established a Provincial Intersectoral Steering Committee, PISSC, comprising of the national, provincial departments and parastatals. This committee co-ordinates the programme provincially and provides strategic and operational implementation guidelines to secure the effective programme rollout. The committee also facilitates transversal co-operation across departments in the three spheres of government and provides leadership with regard to the provincial service delivery footprint.

The directorate has also established the Thusong Service Centre Management Forum, comprising all local municipalities and the Thusong anchor departments. The purpose of the forum is to guide the operational implementation of the Thusong Service Centre programme and to share best practises and lessons learnt regarding integrated service delivery across the province. Hon Minister, we can learn from the working examples in the Western Cape. [Applause.]

Crucially, two-way communication allows citizens to monitor the state's activities; to enter into dialogue with the state on issues that matter to them; and to influence political outcomes. If GCIS can achieve this, they will succeed in their goal to be enabler of citizen engagement, ensuring that as many people as possible have access to information. They will succeed in becoming the primary facilitator to participative government that is there to empower people, facilitate dialogue and participation, and make the information that people need easily available so that they may assert their rights and express their needs. I thank you. [Time expired.] [Applause.]

Mr G D SCHNEEMANN /Mosa//A N N(ed) / END OF TAKE

UNREVISED HANSARD

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Mr A C STEYN

Mr G D SCHNEEMANN: Chairperson, Minister, Deputy Minister, comrades and a few hon members here, I want to start by saying that governments throughout the world, when given a mandate by the electorate, would have made specific commitments which would have persuaded citizens to elect them.

It is therefore correct that governments communicate on a regular basis the work that they are doing and have done and also listen to their citizens to hear their concerns and expectations. It would be totally incorrect if governments did not communicate on how they are implementing the commitments which they have made, and I am sure you would all agree with me on this.

Here in South Africa, it is no different. This ANC government does exactly that. Through the Government Communication and Information System, GCIS, and departmental spokespersons, the successes and achievements, together with the challenges, are communicated on a regular basis. Unfortunately, some opposition parties seem to think that simply because it is an ANC government, therefore there should be no communication at all. [Interjections.] They would in fact prefer that the citizens of this country only hear their voice. [Applause.] They say that the GCIS is nothing more than a propaganda machine of the ANC, speaking on behalf of Luthuli House.

Let us take ourselves forward into the very distant future. If it was remotely possible that one of them happened to win the election, guess what they would do? They would use the GCIS to communicate the work that they would be doing. Although ... although, although ... listen to me! I think that a GCIS under the opposition would close down, as there would be very little to report on. [Interjections.] But let's wait for it. The DA here in the Western Cape uses the GCIS which they describe as a propaganda machine. It confirms my long-standing belief that the DA is hypocritical, to say the least. [Applause.]

Part of the aim of the GCIS is to provide a comprehensive communication service on behalf of government. Its core vision is to achieve integrated, co-ordinated and clear communication between government and South African citizens to enable them to be involved in the country's transformation. During briefings to the portfolio committee, it was very evident that the GCIS is doing a lot of good work to inform South Africans of the work being performed by government. However, it does seem at times that there is a lack of co-ordination between the various spheres of government, and this is an area that needs more focus, probably more focus here in the Western Cape, by the way.

During visits by the portfolio committee to post offices, we had often found that the GCIS stands were empty or were not being used at all. I would agree with hon Steyn from this side of the House that a lot more work needs to be done to ensure that those stands are used and proper material is kept in there at all times. Whilst one acknowledges the work being done throughout the country to inform citizens that more can be done, I want to give you a particular example. How many South Africans are aware that the informal settlement of Zevenfontein which used to exist alongside Dainfern in the north of Johannesburg no longer exists? The reason that it no longer exists is because the entire community of Zevenfontein are now housed in a world class suburb called Cosmo City. [Applause.] I raise this as just one example of the countless examples of the successes of this ANC government over the last 19 years. I am raising this because it also illustrates the need for a co-ordinated and effective communication strategy across all spheres of government.

I would like to make a call to the media in South Africa to report more objectively. Report on the many success stories and how people's lives are being changed. I would also like to make a call to Parliament to move with speed to put in place broadcasting services so that the government and Members of Parliament, MPs, are able to communicate effectively with citizens, particularly about the work that is happening here in Parliament. [Applause.] The GCIS also needs to make greater use regional television stations such as Soweto TV and Bay TV to communicate with our citizens.

The Media Development and Diversity Agency, MDDA, which the Deputy Minister has already spoken about, reports to the GCIS, falls under the banner of the GCIS. It is entrusted with the responsibility of promoting media development and diversity in South Africa by providing financial and other support to community and small commercial media projects. A particular area I want to focus on is the work being done around community radio stations and newspapers. Under the leadership of our ANC government, some 400 new community radio stations and newspapers have been established through the funding and support of, in the main, the MDDA since the advent of democracy. [Applause.] Today, community radio listenership stands at 28% or to put it more simply, so that you understand: community radio audience stands at 8,740 million out of a total radio audience of 31,266 million. These are according to the Radio Audience Measurement Survey, RAMS, figures as at February 2013.

This is a remarkable story of what the ANC is doing to create diversity in our media and to give a voice to South Africans where they live. Most of these radio stations and newspapers are run by young people in the main. They are playing an important role in communicating local news to their respective communities. Much of this news is not generally covered by the main stream media. These young men and women have become celebrities within their own communities. More important, however, is that new journalists, radio presenters, studio technicians, amongst others, are being groomed.

A complaint that we often pick up when we visit many of these community radio stations is that often their presenters are taken by bigger radio stations. Whilst this is a challenge for radio stations, it does mean that young people are being given opportunities that otherwise would not have existed. It is because of the ANC and the programmes of the ANC that this is taking place. [Applause.]

A lot of work has been done by the MDDA to train and capacitate the management and staff of these radio stations and newspapers. One of the key challenges which does exist is their financial sustainability. It is in this regard that we would need to ask the MDDA to do a lot more work to ensure that their dependence on funding from the MDDA is reduced where possible. However, we do accept that in many areas where community radio stations exist, there is a low level of economic activity, and we need to take that into account, as well. We would want to applaud the fact that over the past years, as the Minister has raised earlier, through the efforts of the GCIS, more than R30 million worth of advertising has been placed in the community media sector, and we want to acknowledge that.

The ANC, at its 53rd national conference, said that all spheres of government should advertise in community and small commercial media to assist with media transformation and diversity and the sustenance and growth of these media, and that is exactly what we are seeing happening now. What we now need to see is for local businesses to follow suit and support these radio stations and newspapers by booking advertising space. The Advertising Media Association of South Africa also needs to play a role in encouraging advertising houses to redirect some of their advertising towards community media.

The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa, Icasa, needs to play an improved role in monitoring the content of what is being broadcast by community radio stations. [Interjections.] I just want to say that these radio stations are meant to broadcast community news. They are not funded by the MDDA to broadcast party political objectives. Before the DA shouts too loud, I think we need to ask Icasa to actually go and have a look in the area of Gauteng, particularly in Johannesburg, where there is a radio station that focuses exclusively on broadcasting the DA. Before you shout too loud, there are things that you need to be investigated for as well. [Interjections.]

Most of the community radio stations have told us that they would want to see a greater use of their facilities and services by local and provincial government to inform residents and also to communicate with them. Here we would need to ask GCIS to play a greater role in encouraging this to happen. Both the MDDA and the Department of Communications need to be commended on the work they are doing to support radio stations.

A lot more focus, though, needs to be given to working with the community newspapers. They face major challenges, because of some of the obstacles which are placed in their way by the larger media houses and printing houses. Very often their print runs are delayed, they get their publications late, the printing costs that they are charged is exorbitant, highly expensive, and often the quality of production is poor. We would want to call on these media and printing houses to play a constructive role in working with community newspapers to enable them to succeed and to remind them that at one stage they were also starting out, that they were also struggling, and that they were given a chance to succeed. We think it is only fair that they play their role now.

I just want to mention one last thing before I start to come to a conclusion. I think that a key achievement, and it was mentioned by Deputy Minister Bapela earlier on, that has been reached through community radio is that in the Northern Cape, the Khoisan now, for the first time, have their own community radio station which broadcasts in their own language. [Applause.] I want to just say that this has been brought about because of the programmes of the ANC. [Applause.]

I want to just respond to a few things as I come to an end. I want to respond to a few things that had been raised by some of the opposition parties. Firstly, I am quite surprised at the amount of publicity they have given to certain publications here today, and it actually makes me wonder whether they have been paid to do that, and I certainly hope that they will declare that if, in fact, they have been paid. [Interjections.]

I also want to say to hon Shinn that GCIS material is widely read. We don't need the Audit Bureau of Circulations, ABC, to tell us whether it is widely read. What we go by and what we judge are the results in every election that has taken place since 1994. [Interjections.] In every election that has taken place, the voters have voted overwhelmingly for the ANC and that tells us that that message is reaching the electorate. [Applause.] I also just want to say something, and I think we need to correct something here. The New Age has never asked the MDDA for funds. In fact, it is the DA that actually asked somebody for funds, and they got them. [Applause.]

I also want to just say that the DA stands here and talks glowingly about supposed work that they are doing in the Western Cape but, in fact, Thusong Service Centres in the Western Cape are being closed down – totally the opposite of what they told us here today.

As I come to Cope, what I have wondered sitting here is why they have spent so much time talking about one publication and the adverts that are placed in that publication when, in fact, if you look at all other publications, there are just as many adverts that are placed in these publications. [Interjections.] It actually starts to make me wonder whether this is not perhaps about race. [Interjections.]

I would like to congratulate the IFP and welcome the constructive inputs that they have made on how we should be focusing on improving GCIS publications. [Applause.]

As I conclude, hon Minister, I would like to just say that I think the GCIS needs to play a far greater role in communicating with citizens in our country. There are far too many untold successful stories of this government over the last 19 years, and I think as we move into the last year of this particular administration, let's intensify our communication. Let's ensure that citizens are fully aware of what their government has been doing and will continue to do in the next 15, 20, 25, or 30 years after that, because the rule of the ANC is not about to end. In fact, I think what is about to happen is the disappearance of many opposition parties. Thank you very much. [Applause.]

The MINISTER IN THE PRESIDENCY: PERFORMANCE MONITORING AND EVALUATION, AS WELL AS ADMINISTRATION IN THE PRESIDENCY /Mohau//Mia / END OF TAKE

UNREVISED HANSARD

EPC – COMMITTEE ROOM E249

Thursday, 9 May 2013 Take: 500

Mr G D SCHNEEMANN

The MINISTER IN THE PRESIDENCY: PERFORMANCE MONITORING AND EVALUATION, AS WELL AS ADMINISTRATION IN THE PRESIDENCY: Chairperson, as usual, I avoid getting into confrontations with members who speak on behalf of their parties, even if they are wrong. [Interjections.] However, allow me to acknowledge and thank members for their input, particularly by the hon Mr Steyn from the DA and the hon Van der Merwe from the IFP, who will definitely look at the Hansard to have a look at the suggestions we are making so that we can see how we help each other to improve when we need to do so. I would also like to thank the hon Steyn for quoting me. I am really quoted! [Laughter.] [Interjections.]

Allow me also to express my disappointment in the hon Shinn and the hon Kilian.

HON MEMBERS: Ah, no!

The MINISTER IN THE PRESIDENCY: PERFORMANCE MONITORING AND EVALUATION, AS WELL AS ADMINISTRATION IN THE PRESIDENCY: My disappointment is on two aspects. The first is that we are being asked to defend The New Age, and we will never do that, because it is not our job. The New Age will defend themselves. [Applause.] [Interjections.] Unfortunately, they are not here in Parliament, but if you go and contact them, they can defend themselves. [Interjections.]

The second is my disappointment in the hon Shinn, who completely misunderstood what we said in the statement about the SA Democratic Teachers' Union, Sadtu. Let me repeat it so that members may understand and know why we issued the statement. Our point was that we cannot allow strikes that are not legal, strikes that are violent, and behaviour that will undermine our democracy. It was not in defence of the Minister; it was in defence of the principle. Whatever action we take in exercising our rights as citizens, we should not end up with unintended consequences, such that generations to come will think that this is the type of democracy we wanted. It is not. [Applause.] [Interjections.] Alright. They are the same. Whoever. [Laughter.]

So, it is important for society as a whole, whether you like the ANC or not, it is important for us to understand that the actions we take today should not, in themselves, end up undermining the democracy that we want, in the form of us exercising our rights. We have to continue making that statement. Anybody who acts in a manner which undermines our democracy ... whether you are from the ANC, the PAC, Cope, the DA, wherever, all of us have to speak in a similar voice to ensure that we build a democracy and a society which our future generations will be proud of. [Interjections.] [Applause.]

The second point I wanted to address is this. In our quest to fight our own battles, we should not undermine the principles of our democracy and shift from what we think we believe in only to expose ourselves to show that we actually do not. Freedom of expression, freedom of movement, freedom of choice and to allow people to trade and to do business wherever they want to ... [Interjections.] If you want to fight another battle, at least be consistent. If you think there is something wrong with any action we take, take us to court or to the Public Protector. We will oblige if we are found wanting. If we are doing something wrong, take us to the committee. We are here. We subject ourselves to the accountability of Parliament. It does not help us to stand up and shout around, to the extent that we undermine the same principles which we want to explain to our people so that they may understand them.

I would like to thank the members for the contributions they have made. I think we are going to assist each other to build this society. I confirm that, yes, we run the Government Communication and Information Service, GCIS, in the Western Cape jointly with the government of the Western Cape. We have not experienced any problems with them. We are working together properly, like any other part of the country. [Interjections.]

Let me explain to you the complication with regard to the Thusong Service Centres. They were established initially as information centres. They were then transformed into service centres. What does that mean? It means that before one puts up a Thusong Service Centre in a particular place, one must first budget to put computers and other stuff, and all the other departments, there. That is the complication. We are working together with all the departments, municipalities and other stakeholders to try and resolve that issue. To what extent, and how, can we extend the services to the community as a whole without expanding and ballooning the budgets and the organisational structures of other departments? Thank you very much.

Debate concluded.

The Committee rose at 16:27.

/Robyn/ END OF TAKE


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