Pretoria – President Jacob Zuma is to lead government in improving public access to information about its work through more regular briefings to the media and by formalising relations with the media and the communication sector, the presidency announced on Saturday.
“The presidency has already begun to organise regular media briefings by President Zuma,” it said in a statement.
“The intention is to improve the dissemination of information to the public so that people can be better informed about the work of government and be able to engage on the programme of action.
“We have a duty to inform the public about what government is doing to change their lives so that they can also advise us where there is a need for improvement,” the presidency said.
Government tended to assume that people knew automatically but they could not know until government went all out to inform them directly and through the media.
“We will now no longer wait the whole year before giving feedback on the state of the nation address implementation as well.
“We want to institutionalise and promote communication within government, and the presidency must lead from the front,’’ Zuma said.
The presidency also announced to journalists attending the state of the nation address mid-year briefing that the Presidential Press Corps (PCC) would be operationalised.
The PPC would be constituted by journalists who covered the presidency to ensure improved interaction, as in other countries.
“This will ensure that they become specialists and have access to information they need at all times from the presidency.
“It will also create a formal channel of communication between the presidency and journalists covering the institution.”
The presidency would soon convene a meeting with political editors, political correspondents, and reporters to discuss the establishment of the PPC, it said.
The presidency had also written to the SA National Editors Forum (Sanef) for comment and inputs on the PPC.
“Sanef had raised a concern last month when some journalists said they had been left out of the media visit to the residence of President Zuma in Nkandla and the consultation is aimed at ensuring that we work together going forward in matters affecting working journalists,” the presidency said.
African News Agency