As much as the mining and construction industries in South Africa have been the backbone of the South African economy since the discovery of gold at the turn of the 19th century, so too have they been responsible for most work-related deaths in their employee population, due to their inherent hazardous working conditions. It is for this reason that the governing bodies of these industries have started to clamp down on safety in organisations, legislatively ensuring that all organisations adhere to comparatively stringent and austere regulations, or face possible shutdown. Internal safety communication is, therefore, not only literally a matter of life and death, but also forms part of complying with the laws of the country. Notwithstanding its importance, this inimitable form of internal organisational communication has yet to be widely researched. Positioned within this void, this study proposes the first model for internal safety communication within the context of the South African mining and construction industries, as well as a measuring instrument for its evaluation. The research into these two contributions is based on a sound and rigorous literature review, focusing on the chronological development of germane theories, onwards from the systems theory – the meta-theory of this research. Subsequently, the empirical research of the study was done at two organisations seated within the mining and construction industries of the country, and comprises interviews, focus group discussions and a questionnaire. In this way, the research took the form of a longitudinal study, in terms of the testing of the two contributions, but specifically the measuring instrument. This testing was done during the first stage of the empirical research at the Gautrain project and after the research intervention yielded from the findings of this first stage, the Abstract contributions were reworked and tested again in the second empirical stage of the research, at Diesel Power Opencast Mining. The model and the empirically tested and validated measuring instrument for internal safety communication – both for the context of the South African mining and construction industries – expand and contribute to the field of internal organisational communication in an imperative and relevant way, providing new theory from the South African context. / Communication Science / D.Litt et. Phil. (Communication)

The constitution of the Republic of South Africa has mandated government to keep in touch with the citizens, by regularly updating them on the services available for the improvement of their lives, and further to constantly report back on progress made in implementing government policies. In recent years, the country has been experiencing sporadic service delivery protests especially at the local sphere of government (municipal level). The aim of the study was therefore to examine the success of the communication and information system of the South African government in disseminating information to citizens. The area of the study was the Province of Mpumalanga which is one (1) of the nine (9) provinces constituting the Republic of South Africa. For the study, quantitative research method in the form of a survey was adopted, the hypothesis tested and the findings generalised. In creating a sample frame for the study, both probability and non-probability sampling techniques were adopted. The type of data collection instrument adopted was a structured questionnaire. Single-stage cluster sampling was adopted for heads of government communication whereas judgemental or purposive sampling technique was adopted for citizens. Data was analysed utilising data tabulation, descriptives, and data disaggregation quantitative data analysis procedures. The key findings of the study, amongst others, are: (a) That the current communication and information system being utilised by the South African government has an impact (it has improved communication with citizens); (b) That the citizens prefer government to communicate with them in their own indigenous languages (communicating in all eleven (11) official languages); (c) That the citizens prefer face-to-face communication; (d) That citizens would like to receive government messages via social media (given its immediacy and interactivity); and (e) That the low status of the communication function at the local government level denies communicators access to information to be communicated. Amongst others, the study recommends that (1) communication should be recognised as a strategic management function in all spheres of government; (2) the use of radio as the primary channel of information should be strengthened; (3) face-to-face communication with citizens should be strengthened; (4) information dissemination should be done in all eleven (11) official languages, including in Braille and sign-language; (5) social media and SMS notification should be included in the government communication policy as one of its official information dissemination channels. / Communication Science / M.A. (Communication)

The constitution of the Republic of South Africa has mandated government to keep in touch with the citizens, by regularly updating them on the services available for the improvement of their lives, and further to constantly report back on progress made in implementing government policies. In recent years, the country has been experiencing sporadic service delivery protests especially at the local sphere of government (municipal level). The aim of the study was therefore to examine the success of the communication and information system of the South African government in disseminating information to citizens. The area of the study was the Province of Mpumalanga which is one (1) of the nine (9) provinces constituting the Republic of South Africa. For the study, quantitative research method in the form of a survey was adopted, the hypothesis tested and the findings generalised. In creating a sample frame for the study, both probability and non-probability sampling techniques were adopted. The type of data collection instrument adopted was a structured questionnaire. Single-stage cluster sampling was adopted for heads of government communication whereas judgemental or purposive sampling technique was adopted for citizens. Data was analysed utilising data tabulation, descriptives, and data disaggregation quantitative data analysis procedures. The key findings of the study, amongst others, are: (a) That the current communication and information system being utilised by the South African government has an impact (it has improved communication with citizens); (b) That the citizens prefer government to communicate with them in their own indigenous languages (communicating in all eleven (11) official languages); (c) That the citizens prefer face-to-face communication; (d) That citizens would like to receive government messages via social media (given its immediacy and interactivity); and (e) That the low status of the communication function at the local government level denies communicators access to information to be communicated. Amongst others, the study recommends that (1) communication should be recognised as a strategic management function in all spheres of government; (2) the use of radio as the primary channel of information should be strengthened; (3) face-to-face communication with citizens should be strengthened; (4) information dissemination should be done in all eleven (11) official languages, including in Braille and sign-language; (5) social media and SMS notification should be included in the government communication policy as one of its official information dissemination channels. / Communication Science / M. A. (Communication)