Members of Parliament will soon have access to finger-tip government information when the Information and Resource Centre (IRC) of the Government Communications and Information System re-opens tomorrow (Friday). The centre will be re-opened by the Minister in the Presidency, Doctor Essop Pahad.
Government will be opening a total of 20 Multi-Purpose Community Centres across the country in the next year. And the next three years will see a total of 55 MPCC's launched country wide, mostly in rural districts, to ensure that government's services reaches the poorest of the poor.
Today marked the successful launch of the third MPCC in Zwelithemba at Worcester in the Western Cape.
Noting that some journalists are still being misled by a false e-mail, despite reports in the City Press and the Star explaining its origins, GCIS would like to clarify the matter.
The Government Communication and Information System (GCIS) will be holding media briefings for Ministers from 7 to 11 February 2000 at the Tuynhuis Goodhope Auditorium, Cape Town. While GCIS, as it did in June 1999, takes responsibility only for briefings by the executive arm of government, other organs of government and political parties represented in Parliament are welcome to use the opportunity, where there are vacant slots, to brief the media.
History will be made in Tombo, near Port St Johns in the Eastern Cape, when the first one-stop government service centre is launched on Thursday, 9 December 1999.
The intersectoral initiative, supported by President Thabo Mbeki, will bring integrated services of the government to the Kei District where communities need them most.
In November last year, Cabinet announced its preferred suppliers for the procurement of defence equipment for the SANDF.
The InterMinisterial Committee on Disaster Management, chaired by the Minister for Provincial and Local Government, met today to review progress in achieving readiness with regard to the Y2K phenomenon. As the remediation projects approach completion the focus is falling on the review of contingency plans and the testing of their suitability for Y2K.
The Inter-Ministerial Committee is pleased to announce that arrangements are in place for the inauguration of the new President of South Africa on 16 June 1999.
It is expected that numerous Heads of State will be attending this special event in our history. The formal inauguration ceremony will take place in the Amphitheatre of the Union Buildings on the morning of 16 June 1999.
In response to media queries, the GCIS wishes to clarify the main issues pertaining to its recent campaign.
1. What was the outcome of the meeting between opposition parties and Cabinet on 31 March 1999?
Background
It is normal practice in most democracies that, during an election period, particular attention is paid to ensuring that government communication structures and officers do not act in a way that advantages or disadvantages participants in the electoral contest.
