Cape Town – The Government Communication and Information System (GCIS) will play a critical role in mobilising society to take stock of and celebrate the gains made since the dawn of democracy in South Africa.
Delivering the department’s 2013/14 budget vote speech in Parliament on Thursday, Minister in the Presidency for Performance Monitoring and Evaluation, Collins Chabane, said the GCIS, which is the centre of government communication, was perfectly positioned to play this crucial role in marking the major milestone in South Africa’s democratic history.
“Through 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,” said Chabane.
The minister said in the build-up to South Africa’s 20 years of democracy, many gains had been made to improve the lives of citizens such as providing water, electricity and housing to millions of people.
Led by the Presidency, government will do a review of its achievements for the past 20 years.
“This 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,” said Chabane.
Of GCIS’ achievements, he said that the organisation continued to work smarter and displayed sound financial management of public funds.
By using its izimbizo programme and a variety of platforms, the GCIS reached more than 23 million people.
Vuk’uzenzele, a free newspaper, was being used to give information to as many South Africans as possible. The publication has a monthly circulation of 1.7 million. Published in all 11 official languages, Vuk’uzenzele was the only newspaper in the country available in Braille.
On the online front, SAnews, the flagship of government communications, had repositioned itself from BuaNews, 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.”
GCIS was also informing citizens, stakeholders and other interest groups through the SA Government Online, which served as the official entry point for online government information. Other GCIS websites were also used.
On social media, Chabane said the GCIS had defined and broadened the scope of possibilities with regards to worldwide government communication, adding that GCIS would continue to put government information in this space.
As a cost saving measure, Cabinet had reduced the budget of the GCIS by R3.9 million.
In announcing this today, Chabane said the budget would be reduced by a further R8.3 million in 2014/15 and R13.1 million in 2015/16.
He said that over the medium term, GCIS expenditure was expected to increase from R396.7 million in 2013/14 to R430.8 million in 2015/16. Increases would largely be used for information technology and office accommodation.
GCIS will soon relocate to new premises, equipped with state-of-art technology later.
GCIS, which has received an unqualified audit report for financial statements and performance information, has been allocated additional funding of R19.1 million over the medium term.
Chabane said that the reduction has delayed some of the planned expansions of communication services. However, the department had implemented measures to mitigate any potential adverse effect on the achievement of outputs.
With regards to community media, Chabane said by introducing bulk buying to government advertising, GCIS had saved R30 million, which was used to buy advertising in the diverse community radio space.
The minister said government had established the Thusong Service Centre programme to serve as information centres for communities. These centres have been evolving to the extent that in the rural areas, people can register for social grants, apply for IDs and birth certificates.
“However, we are aware of the challenges facing this programme and that not all of them (centres) are fully functional. We have undertaken a process of review so we can identify the gaps and ensure that this essential service to our people serves its purpose,” said Chabane.
GCIS also supported national days with activities that included the rollout of President Jacob Zuma’s Siyahlola Monitoring Visits; Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe’s War on Poverty drives, and Public Participation Programmes of Cabinet Ministers and Deputy Ministers in over 2 000 events.
GCIS has kept its vacancy rate at 5% throughout the year. In addition, the Employment Equity Plan has been implemented, with 53% of females working at senior management level, while 2.3% employees with disabilities were also employed.
Chabane said the mandate of the GCIS was to serve as the central communications agency of the new democratic government.
GCIS also played a continuous role in mobilizing the nation behind the National Development Plan, which aims to eliminate poverty and reduce inequality by 2030.
It showcased progress and invited South Africans to work together to address challenges 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 consolidating our democracy,” said Chabane.
Earlier on Thursday, Chabane and his Deputy Obed Bapela visited Khayelitsha, where they met with community media representatives. – SAnews.gov.za
