The dawn of democracy in South Africa ushered an increasing need for government to interact
with the citizens. This study assesses the use of the state of the province address (SOPA) as a
communication platform to keep the citizens abreast of the government programmes and
deliverables in Limpopo province, South Africa. SOPA is broadcasted mainly from the legislature
whilst the communities can view the proceedings in identified public viewing areas. Since SOPA’s
inception, there is limited academic studies conducted on the effectiveness of SOPA in general
and public viewing areas in particular. To fill this paucity of research, this study reviewed the
government communication strategy with specific reference to government communication and
information systems (GCIS) which emphasises on the need for government to interact with
stakeholders at all levels. Using communication effectiveness and stakeholder theories (also
called Izimbizo), this study evaluated the planning process of SOPA and citizens’ views on the
effectiveness of the public viewing areas.
In-depth interviews and survey were conducted with campaign planners and Mokwakwaila
citizens respectively. Data was analysed using thematic analysis for interviews and descriptive
statistics for survey. This study found that the internal planning process of the campaign (SOPA)
is accordingly linked to the strategic objectives of the province, but inadequate funding hinders
the longevity of the campaign. It is also this study’s finding that whilst citizens found SOPA to be
effective they however feel that government does not do enough to source feedback after the
campaign. This study recommends that there could be an exploration of the new media utility to
produce more awareness about the campaign in order to accommodate audience that do not use
radio and newspapers. The implications on campaign planners is that they should conduct
feedback to improve public participation in future government programmes / Communication Science / M.A. (Communication)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:unisa/oai:uir.unisa.ac.za:10500/26655 |
| Date | 31 October 2019 |
| Creators | Sephakgamele, Lordwick Phetole |
| Contributors | Hadji, M. J., Mukhundwana, R. F. |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Dissertation |
| Format | 1 online resource (ix, 110 leaves) : illustration, color graph, application/pdf |
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