More effective Government communication

Let me be the first one to acknowledge that since 1994 the South African government has established some innovative communications platforms through the Government Communications Information System (GCIS), an entity which provides communication services to all arms of government. Certainly the communication of government initiatives to the citizens of South Africa and the general population is one of the biggest tasks which faces the GCIS on a daily basis. To this end, the GCIS has established a government news internet portal (BuaNews.gov.za) along with other publications which target different audiences within society. Let’s also not forget the websites of the different government departments which seem to be well structured and resourced. All in all, the GCIS is doing some really good work, especially in the way that it has embraced information technology as a communication tool. However, I must point out that many of the GCIS initiatives are simply below-the-line in nature with a very narrow reach among the general population, even the above mentioned internet portal and the different government departments websites are have limited reach given the low internet penetration rate in our country. Therefore, apart from the occasional announcements made by Government and carried by the different media, the average citizen is not well-informed of government’s performance. What always amazes me is that the ruling party always seems to spend a huge amount of money on above-the-line communication around the different election periods, be it the national general election or the municipal elections. Even some government departments have been known to use above the line campaigns to communicate their achievement during the election period. Who can forget the wonderful campaign by the Department of Housing (now Dep. of Human Settlements) where the department bragged about its successes in delivering houses to the poor. Now wouldn’t it be nice of government to stay connected to the citizens in this manner all year-round? It would certainly make us all appreciate government more! My challenge therefore is for government and ,to a lesser extent, the ruling party to have a clear above-the-line strategy (by department) aimed squarely at keeping the average tax-payer informed of progress on government initiatives, big or small .