Minister
Essop Pahad
Keynote
address: Third Government Communicators' Consultative Conference
22 July 1999
The Chairperson, the GCIS Secretariat,
Provincial Directors of Communication, Communicators from Ministries,
Departments and Commissions
Can this dream which Bill Gates painted
for in "The Road Ahead" become the South Africa of the
future? "The day has almost arrived when you can easily conduct
business, study, explore the world and its cultures, call up great
entertainment, make friends, go to neighbourly markets, and show
pictures to your relatives, wherever they are - without leaving
your desk or your armchair."
I do not use the term historic easily
but I believe this Communicators' Conference occurs at a unique
moment in the history of this country. It occurs at a time when
two major forces are coming together: a new type of government ushered
in by the 2 June elections and when the conditions favourable for
South Africa moving decisively into the Information Age are coalescing.
You as communicators, committed to
meeting the information needs of all South Africans, should be the
shock troops in this revolution - both in governance and in the
information order - South Africa will be undergoing.
I believe that this future lies in
the hands of each one of us - the journalist and the policeman;
the editor and the homemaker; the teacher, newspaper vendor, and
camera crew; the industrialist and worker, the professional, the
nurse and the student.
During your deliberations you will
need to work out strategies on how we can ensure that our uncles
and aunts in the villages, our parents toiling on the land or in
factories, our brothers and sisters at schools or colleges and our
neighbours in the townships and cities can become part of this Information
Age.
Such an Information Age is to be characterised
on the one hand by a commitment to informing the public of all of
government's work. On the other hand it is to be manifested in government
engaging in true dialogue with the public - a government which is
caring and responsive to the needs and anxieties of the public.
The cornerstone of this commitment
shall be a visible programme of contact with the people to report
back on progress being made and to learn from them - constantly
strengthening the contract government has made with the nation.
As you have seen from the past four weeks of this government we
hope to inspire and mobilise the nation with a clear vision about
the direction of the country, so that the critical objectives we
have set can be attained.
Your creativity and nimbleness as communicators
should be harnessed in ensuring the success of this dialogue between
government and the people.
Opportunities should be exploited,
situations created for government to listen to the needs of the
people, to communicate to the public government's advances and explain
its shortcomings.
A key area that government will be
concentrating on is governance as a process. Reinventing government
has become the rallying call of reformists trying to transform huge
uncaring bureaucracies and to replace them with institutions more
in tune with the needs of the public and committed to meeting these
needs.
I am outlining some of the challenges
government faces to provide a backdrop to your deliberations, and
to your work in the coming months and years.
In keeping with the commitment to reinventing
government we seek to modernise the management and operational style
of the Public Service guided by the dictum of Batho Pele - People
First. We shall appreciate feedback from the public about the efficiency
of the public service, its attitude and spirit of service at the
point of delivery.
Integrated governance shall become
a major feature of this government.
You have already seen evidence of the
cluster approach at the ministerial level. Government communicators
will need to ensure that their work is shaped by the deliberations
within the ministerial clusters, and that what you do and say reflects
this new approach both in content and style. The relationship between
local, provincial and national spheres as well as traditional leaders
shall also be further developed through consultations. The GCIS
has spared no effort in strengthening links with provincial communicators.
Conferences such as these should help share problems being faced
and lessons learnt.
I suppose that this conference will
also address the issue of co-ordination at least at the regional
and district levels. We can make an integrated impact on delivery
by moving towards one-stop government centres.
We have found that in specific localities
you find all kinds of government offices: labour offices, welfare
points, licensing departments and so forth. Those who can barely
afford to move from one office to another will benefit from having
all their requirements of government under one roof. The long- term
cost-saving for the country as a whole is incalculable. But, even
more virtually, is the improvement in the quantity of service to
the people, by government as corporate entity.
This government is busy crafting a
Public Service which is shaped according to the needs of the citizenry,
consuming the minimum of public resources and with an output that
ensures the realisation of government programmes. We are committed
to ensuring that the Public Service is driven by a new morality.
What we are appealing for is that our social partners - be they
in business or in the media - help us in setting this nation on
a new moral footing.
The bedrock of our Constitution and
our society has been the deep and shared commitment to human rights
that we as South Africans have displayed over and over again. Forged
in the crucible of struggle against a regime which became the benchmark
for repression, this democracy of ours needs the careful nurturing
of each one of us. This can only happen when all citizens are familiar
with their human rights and responsibilities with particular repressed.
These refer particularly to women,
workers, the disabled and children.
We can only say that we are engaging
in development communication when people are fully conversant with
their rights and are actively accessing the multimedia of opportunities
that the new order offers.
Parliament, provincial legislatures,
and local councils should become more accessible to the public as
a means for the citizen to exercise their rights. You can help in
achieving that.
The recent history of government communication
has undergone two key milestones: the presentation of the final
Comtask Report in October 1996 and the launch of GCIS on 18 May
1998 I would like us to achieve two milestones before the end of
this year:
- The establishment of the cluster
approach in communications. I am pleased to see that this features
prominently large in the agenda for this conference.
- The piloting of the first few one-stop
government information centres.
This will provide an even better platform
for the implementation of the Government Communication Strategy
adopted by the Cabinet two weeks ago.
The Ministers-in-Cabinet committed
themselves to ensure that this strategy is implemented; and I hope
you are assisting them to meet this objective.
You have your tasks cut out for you.
May I on behalf of my cabinet colleagues wish you every success
in your deliberations.
For more information contact Thabang
Chiloane at (012) 314-2449 or 082 466 3266 fax (012) 326-0317
Minister
in The Presidency, Dr Essop Pahad
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