‘Manyi wants control over ads’

Independent Newspapers

Jimmy Manyi. Photo: Simphiwe Mbokazi.

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Cabinet spokesman Jimmy Manyi wants the advertising of all government departments centralised in his office, according to reports on Monday.

The Times reported that Manyi was tightening his grip on the advertising of government departments.

“At a national level we are trying to have a model where all departments will give their advertising to one centre - the Government Communication and Information Services (GCIS),” Manyi said speaking at a community media indaba on Saturday.

“Once this model has been adopted, GCIS will then be the one to distribute adverts accordingly.”

The newspaper reported that each of the 34 governmental departments had its own funds for advertising and were in charge of their own advertising by appointing an advertising agency.

At the indaba the funding and lack of government advertising in community media was negotiated by the GCIS and the Media Development Agency with community representatives, the Times reported.

The Times reported that community media complained that government was ignoring them when allocating advertising and instead chose to place their advertisements with mainstream media at a much greater cost.

Last year, Manyi said government, through GCIS, would monitor and enforce adherence to the “government brand”.

Non-Cabinet weeks would, among others, be used for media briefings to communicate progress on the implementation of government's programme of action.

The implementation of the strategy would result in a much more informed and empowered public, Manyi said. - Sapa