But the private media is always thrown from pillar to post when trying to source information from the government. This is mainly so because instead of disseminating information as is their responsibility, these government officials view the private press as intruders, ba ba itshunya nko in state affairs. A living and recent example was when the permanent secretary to the President (PSP) Carter Morupisi called a media briefing for government journalists only to explain the Economic Stimulus Programme (ESP). To this day, the PSP still has not invited the private press for a briefing on the ESP but it is expected, or rather demanded, of the private media to understand its objectives. Also, when the country experienced heatwaves recently, the private press sought information from the hospitals, but the managers refused to share, even insinuating that the media only wants information to increase newspaper sales. A few days later, the same health facility had to admit that some people had died because of the heatwave. Had the health officials freely shared the information, especially the education aspect of it, would lives not have been saved? The latest news blackout was when the vice President Mokgweetsi Masisi fell ill a few weeks ago, and was admitted at a South African hospital. There was a lot of secrecy and denials from the Office of the President on the health status of the VP, just it was back in 2011 when our departed former VP Mompati Merafhe was critically ill. It boggles the mind what harm will be caused to just confirm immediately that the VP is not well and hospitalised. These are just few of the examples of how poor communication can lead to a misunderstanding of good programmes initiated by government. Silence and denials feed to speculation, which can be damaging and misleading. We call upon the assistant minister of presidential affairs and public administration, Phillip Makgalemele to make sure that this training is not in vain. He should take it upon himself to ensure that these communicators put in practice what they have been taught. He has come out to say it is vital that as government they must always share information timely to keep the nation abreast with what is going on in the country. It’s time he caught the ball in his court to deliver on this mandate. We encourage Makgalemele to also engage the private press to appreciate what they are subjected to. Afterall, he used to be media-friendly before he became Minister of state
Today’s thought
