Thesis (M.P.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 98-100).

Thesis (M.P.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 98-100). Also available in print.

Thesis (MPA)--University of Stellenbosch, 2005. / Bibliography. Also available via the Internet.

Thesis (PhD (Communication Management))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Abstract in English. Includes bibliographical references. Available on the Internet via the World Wide Web.

Thesis (M.A.)(Information Science)--University of Pretoria, 2001. / Available on the World Wide Web. Summaries in Afrikaans and English.

Government Communication and Information System (GCIS) was formed in May 1998, to co-ordinate and provide leadership in communicating the message of government across all government functional disciplines. Initially its activities were implemented with resources of the disbanded South African Communication Services (SACS). Key findings * The GCIS's allocated budget was not linked to its own strategic priorities and operational plans. * The inherited staff of SACS had limited qualification to execute its key activities. * Budget motivations submitted for the subsequent years, were still using SACS's activities as a focal point and not the GCIS's priorities. * There were poor systems of managing and monitoring on a month to month basis the activities of the GCIS. Key recommendations * A newly created entity should have a strategic and an operational plan that will inform its zero based budgeting process. * Management involvement in the budgeting process and monitoring is critical. * The budgeting process should be preceded by an approved strategic plan and an operational plan. / Public Administration / (M.A (Public Administration))

Government Communication and Information System (GCIS) was formed in May 1998, to co-ordinate and provide leadership in communicating the message of government across all government functional disciplines. Initially its activities were implemented with resources of the disbanded South African Communication Services (SACS). Key findings * The GCIS's allocated budget was not linked to its own strategic priorities and operational plans. * The inherited staff of SACS had limited qualification to execute its key activities. * Budget motivations submitted for the subsequent years, were still using SACS's activities as a focal point and not the GCIS's priorities. * There were poor systems of managing and monitoring on a month to month basis the activities of the GCIS. Key recommendations * A newly created entity should have a strategic and an operational plan that will inform its zero based budgeting process. * Management involvement in the budgeting process and monitoring is critical. * The budgeting process should be preceded by an approved strategic plan and an operational plan. / Public Administration and Management / (M.A (Public Administration))

Research is presented for the degree of Masters of Management in Public and Development Management to the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management of the University of the Witwatersrand , March 2016 / The study examines the GCIS strategic planning process of 2012/13-2016/17 Strategic Plan that failed the requirements of the National Treasury Frameworks (NTF). This is in accordance with the 2012/13 AGSA report (Department of Government Communication and Information System, 2013). Although the strategic plan covers the period of five years, the financial years discussed are from 2012/13-2015/16 because the 2016/17 has not been implemented. A qualitative research approach was followed in identifying challenges in the GCIS strategic planning process; the purpose of the study is to offer recommendations to the GCIS management on improvement of the planning process. The South African public sector introduced an outcome-based planning approach in 2009, and developed the long-term plan which is the National Development Plan: Vision 2030 (NDP). In addition, NTF were drawn up and implemented to support the outcome-based approach. This approach to planning shifted the focus of government from outputs to outcomes and to the impact of service delivery on the lives of South Africans. The GCIS was mandated to ensure that there was a constant flow of information between the government and its citizens. The GCIS is responsible for providing strategic leadership in government communications within national, provincial and local government. In order to do this, it embarks on two planning processes, one to develop the National Communication Strategy and the other to develop the strategic plans of the GCIS. The NCS, in particular, guides communication within the government-wide communication system (GWCS). This study was conducted to answer the primary research question: (1) To what extent does the GCIS meet its strategic planning process? The literature review focuses on strategic planning processes in general and within the public sector in particular. The strategic planning process of the South African public sector gives context to the GCIS strategic planning process. A qualitative research design is followed, with in-depth interviews with the GCIS management, government communicators, members of the oversight bodies and a journalist. The findings from the research illustrate that the GCIS strategic planning process is not effective and does not meet the requirements of the NTF. It is not institutionalised as a management tool to improve the performance of the organisation. The challenges with the GCIS strategic planning process were identified as follows: (1) inadequate application of research to inform the strategic planning process, leading to poor formulation of strategies; (2) failure to set appropriate performance indicators and targets for the organisation as well as within the GWCS; (3) misalignment between the strategic plan and the National Communication Strategy (NCS), causing poor implementation of both documents; (4) prolonged acting leadership within the GCIS, which has caused instability in the organisation and unclear strategic direction; and (5) the need to identify planning approaches that are suited to addressing the dynamic and fluid communications environment. The study concludes with recommendations for the improvement of the GCIS strategic planning process to produce a credible strategic plan to meet the NTF requirements. The implementation of such a plan could enhance the efficient functioning of a GWCS. / MT 2018

Much is written on the importance of participatory communication and its role in uplifting indigent communities. As the closest government sphere to communities, local government is charged with directly improving the lives of the poor and is required by legislation to conduct Integrated Development Planning (IDP). This requires that a municipal authority utilise participatory communication aspects such as dialogue, empowerment, and planning. These are most important pillars of community development. However, many studies have warned that elements such as modernisation, dependency and bureaucracy need to be re-assed and observed with caution since they have the potential to impede and limit the extent of participatory communication in community development. These concepts serve as the basic points of departure and theoretical background underpinning this study, which is tasked with exploring the extent of participatory communication in the IDP context of Jouberton Township in the Matlosana LocalMunicipality. In her public address on challenges facing North West Local municipalities (Including Matlosana Municipality) in January 2014, former premier, Thandi Modise, emphasised the need for municipalities to ensure that communities attend IDP meetings, approve earmarked IDP projects and be aware of how a municipality spends its budget earmarked for specific development projects. It is evident from theory and higher echelon of government that participatory communication is seen as the most important pillar and the basis for the existence of a municipal government. It is against this background, that this study was carried out under the assumption that the practice of participatory communication in contemporary local government only exists on paper; while in reality the public does not enjoy active participation in municipal IDP consultative frameworks. This is despite much discourse being available in government and in academia around the importance and role of participatory communication in community development. The study espoused a qualitative research approach to gather data and purposive sampling was used to select respondents linked to two IDP projects in Jouberton Township from the 2012/13 financial year. Its purpose was to explore perceptions among Matlosana municipal representatives and community members in Jouberton Township on the extent of participatory communication in the IDP context. The empirical part of the study comprised of focus group and unstructured interviews, as well as participant observation. By using a typology of participation by Anyaegbunam et al (2004), the study revealed that Jouberton communities are passive participators in municipal IDP consultative frameworks where they participate by just being informed about what is going to happen or has already happened and feedback is minimal. This is opposed to a desired form of empowered participation which is highly recommended by scholars in development communication where stakeholders should be able to and are willing to participate in joint analysis, which leads to joint decision making about what should be achieved and how. It has been discovered that there is a lack of active participation in community development in the IDP context of Matlosana Municipality and the study makes recommendations on how transformative elements of participation can be applied to improve current norms and standards in participatory communication. / MA (Communication Studies), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Much is written on the importance of participatory communication and its role in uplifting indigent communities. As the closest government sphere to communities, local government is charged with directly improving the lives of the poor and is required by legislation to conduct Integrated Development Planning (IDP). This requires that a municipal authority utilise participatory communication aspects such as dialogue, empowerment, and planning. These are most important pillars of community development. However, many studies have warned that elements such as modernisation, dependency and bureaucracy need to be re-assed and observed with caution since they have the potential to impede and limit the extent of participatory communication in community development. These concepts serve as the basic points of departure and theoretical background underpinning this study, which is tasked with exploring the extent of participatory communication in the IDP context of Jouberton Township in the Matlosana LocalMunicipality. In her public address on challenges facing North West Local municipalities (Including Matlosana Municipality) in January 2014, former premier, Thandi Modise, emphasised the need for municipalities to ensure that communities attend IDP meetings, approve earmarked IDP projects and be aware of how a municipality spends its budget earmarked for specific development projects. It is evident from theory and higher echelon of government that participatory communication is seen as the most important pillar and the basis for the existence of a municipal government. It is against this background, that this study was carried out under the assumption that the practice of participatory communication in contemporary local government only exists on paper; while in reality the public does not enjoy active participation in municipal IDP consultative frameworks. This is despite much discourse being available in government and in academia around the importance and role of participatory communication in community development. The study espoused a qualitative research approach to gather data and purposive sampling was used to select respondents linked to two IDP projects in Jouberton Township from the 2012/13 financial year. Its purpose was to explore perceptions among Matlosana municipal representatives and community members in Jouberton Township on the extent of participatory communication in the IDP context. The empirical part of the study comprised of focus group and unstructured interviews, as well as participant observation. By using a typology of participation by Anyaegbunam et al (2004), the study revealed that Jouberton communities are passive participators in municipal IDP consultative frameworks where they participate by just being informed about what is going to happen or has already happened and feedback is minimal. This is opposed to a desired form of empowered participation which is highly recommended by scholars in development communication where stakeholders should be able to and are willing to participate in joint analysis, which leads to joint decision making about what should be achieved and how. It has been discovered that there is a lack of active participation in community development in the IDP context of Matlosana Municipality and the study makes recommendations on how transformative elements of participation can be applied to improve current norms and standards in participatory communication. / MA (Communication Studies), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015