Government: Buy E -Toll tags. COSATU: NO don't buy E-Toll tags

The beggining of this week government called upon the South African motorists to purchase E-Toll tags but the COSATU insisted hat people should not bother buying E-TAG. Read Morehttp://www.fin24.com/Economy/Cosatu-Govt-jumping-gun-on-e-tolls-20121004

http://www.sowetanlive.co.za/news/2012/04/20/we-ve-no-power-to-arrest-e-toll-defaulters---sanral-boss

 

The question that came to my mind was " is there lack of communication between government and COSATU?" surely there is lack of communication between the two  parties which lead to the creation of confusion in the minds of drivers that will be affected with E-Tolling. Majority of motorists expressed concern regarding the E-tolling system saying that it will cost a lot bu the government which proclaims to be the listening government did not even bother to listen its citizens.What does that tells us it simply implies that the government doesn't care.On the Public Relations perspective the organisation/ leaders who do not listen to there stockholder's concern such a leader / organisation does not last meaning that it will not make a good reputation therefore people find it hard to believe whatever that leader /organisation says their countries.

On the other hand it's believed that most of them profit that will be made out of E-toll will go to companies based abroad, well what worries me is that S.A will never develop if  fast as along as more investors leave with profits to

This is my  write my last academic blog for 2012 it was a great experience to interact with young growing Bloggers and Writers, Unfortunately I am not concluding my blog in a good note but criticising the SANRAL and S.A government for not listening to the S.A citizens.

RELEASE YOUR VOICE.

L.BUTHELEZI

Truth vs Public Relations

In public relations values and facts are important. Together they integrate truth that will project a positive corporate image and reputation about your organisation.



At the end you have to choose wich road to take



 

Truth demands the combination of all relevant facts that will help clients understand better and unlock their confuse mind.If clients are left with facts that do not make any sense well it means that they will end up making their own assumptions that may cause a negative impression and reputation about the organisation thus it will mean the Public Relation Practioner of that organisation is incomplte and does not know how to provide  authentic facts.



Truth will set you free: http://nicelycaptured.blogspot.com/2012_05_01_archive.html

 In most crisis/ complicated situation where there are lot of negative media reports about the organisation that is where the Public Relations Practioners ought to remember that truth without ethics open the door to lies, negative corporate image/reputation, negative projection of an organisation by external and internal stakeholders.Beyond the facts there are values that need not to be  missed, that is why it is so important for experienced public relations professionals not only to deepen their training on the effective use of tools and methods, but also to take the time to reflect on their values and to form a strong ethical conscience that will result to  positive corporate image.


RELEASE YOUR VOICE .

L Buthelezi

IS WOOLWORTH RACIST ?

Warning what I have posted my sound harsh and offensive to others  thus  I wish to voice my apologies in advance but am Releasing My Voice.

Let me just cut it straight to the point, I don't see any valid reason for those who called on a boycott against  Woollies.I clearly don't understand why some of White people want to boycott Woolworth.The fact is that majority of  General workers within the Retail industry are Blacks, Indians and Coloured, you can go to any major retail supermarkets you will find few White people in South Africa the question we should ask ourselves is why Retail Companies do not hire lot of Whites people as general workers but they prefer Africans.Those who are complaining they making it a big issue whereas it shoul'nt be.




The Woolworth's logo which was designed by the media.


  According to my opinion I totally think it's a disgrace and an offence to the African race that when retailers want to hire general people they will prefer Africans and ignore white people. I assume that  probably  they might be avoiding something that will cost their companies a lot when they hire white people.But other than that clearly there is still  a confusion pertaining EE (Employment Equity) and AA( Affirmative Action) Acts which ought to be adhered by various organisation when hiring.Therefore it brings a  huge challenge to the Department of Labour to provide a clear meaning of how these acts should be applied and where and when they must  be utilised. The Department of Labour should reinforce on doing the following:

1 They need to re check the definition of EE and AA,where they see mistakes they  must be rectified.
2 The also need to straighten their Education Campaign pertaining the two mentioned  Acts to give more clarity.


By so doing it will help to eliminate unnecessary confusion and social media agruments that may occur in the future.

RELEASE YOUR VOICE.

L Buthelezi

Are the political and government leaders fully equipped with skills to address the public and respond to the medias questions?

When you are a government leader who is always in the public eye you are expected to address the media and  the people you are serving with respect.

 



President of the Republic if South Africa Mr Jacob Zuma during his speech at the Parliament.



DA's Parliamentary Leader Madam Lindiwe Mazibuko

I was listening President of South Africa Mr Jacob Zuma responding to the questions of the members of the parliament. What got me astonished was when Mr J.Zuma called the DA Parliamentary leader a “Girl” instead of honourable member of the parliament. I assume the question that Madam Lindiwe Mazibuko posed to the president of the country provoked him, but that does not mean the president should forget to follow the parliamentary policy when responding to the members.

The embarrassing habit that most of the politicians like Mr Julius Malema tend to do when talking to the media is to respond in a disrespectfully  aggressive manner, forgetting that what ever they say will be published and broadcasted to the citizens of the country.

From the communication perspective public and government leaders ought to be careful with what they say to the media because at the end the that message will be out to the public trough media then the message creates a certain perception about that particular leader. On the other hand prominent political leader are also perceived/taken as role models by the public particularly the youth therefore it brings a challenge to such leaders to be very cautious when they deliver speeches and respond to the media's questions . In addition it's also  an inevitable challenge for communication practitioners of our leaders to give  offer an advance media training to them.

 RELEASE YOUR VOICE

L.Buthelezi

How is the South Africas image around the world after the Lonmin Maasacre?

Now the whole world knows that South African Police Service killed approximately 40 miners during Lonmin illegal strike, so what does that precisely mean for S.A’s image.

From my observation the image of SA is in a deep crisis full of mud that needs to be ripped away. The investors are now becoming afraid to continue investing money to the mining industry of South Africa which has precious resources because of the image portrayed by the media, Lonmin  Massacre made international media project SA as a country which has turned violent  that SA has now became violent of which is not  true. Thus the  question that arises how does South African government ensures that South Africa restores back its reputable image of being the democratic peaceful country in Africa?



South Africa's flag with drops of blood falling down



 Lonmin and SA governments co-operation

 The South African government together with the Lonmin I reckon that they must do a campaign that will entail crisis advertising which will aid Lonmin to re-establish goodwill and re-brands itself. The campaign should also restores hope to the international investors. At the end the campaign should ensure the foreign investors that SA is still the safest country with precious mineral resources to invest in.

On the other hand the Lonmin must do a corporate advertising focuses on the reputation of the company. Furthermore they should  also inform their clients on  how are they going to manage the  similar situation next time if it occurs. Like it or not the government cannot just sit down while the image of the country.Lonmine should also analyse the outcome and Media coverage both positive / negative. Lastly the also need to revise their crisis communication plan to reflect what they have learned. 

In addition the mine should now make sure that it enhances its Employee communication/internal communication. The importance of employee communication is :

· Employee want information about the company they crave communication from their management they want to know what plans the company has for the workers.

        ·   Employee Communication is the key to addressing new business challenges because employees are more confident that they can help move the business forward.

    ·   Employee communication can be vital to maintaining customer experience and  employees convey the brand image of the company thus if employees are not pleased with their working conditions the image of the company loses its value.

RELEASE YOUR VOICE.

L BUTHELEZI.

Is it communication failure that led to the Lonmin Massacre



South African police opened fire on striking miners armed with machetes and sticks at Lonmin's Marikana platinum mine on Thursday. ( Reuters news headline)

It's unfortunately disturbing to read the above Reuters News headline about our lovely South Africa that made international headline news on Reuters, BBC and Sky news, because the image that the world-  investors portray at the end about South Africa is not good after all.When I saw a footage of Police shooting Lonmin workers yesterday on  19h00 E-News,I was dismayed and remained with lot of questions of what exactly went wrong where did the communication failure occurred,did the communication practitioners of the responsible parties manage to communicate with their members accordingly or they just failed to ease the crisis that occurred in Lonmin, unfortunately we cannot undo what has happened.

SAPS member shooting live ammunisation to the mine workers.
(http://dailymaverick.co.za/article/2012-08-17-lonmins-killing-fields-the-inevitable-tragic-next-move)

As Pubic Relations Practitioners it's part of our duty to ensure that workers are satisfied and comfortable with the working conditions  and benefit they get from our organisations because at the end they are the ones that make am organisation succeed and meet the targets, goals an vision/mission because with no doubt it's highly difficult to succeed alone without extra hands and make the organisation operate effectively.According to my views the Communication department and the Management of Lonmin failed to honour the workers demands of getting decent better salaries thus it led to the loose of lives.How can mine workers of the world's largest platinum producer still earn less that R5000.00 ? another question that arises is that is the  management only thinking of themselves careless towards meeting the workers ?, demands if so then what is the communication department of Lonmin doing or has done to make sure that workers have high spirit of working hard and make the Lonmin succeed.I still maintain my opinion that this crisis (Lonmin Massacre) could have been long time prevented if Lonmin Management acted early before unions and its worked embarked on a violent strike that caused +/- 35 lives of the mine workers.

                      Lonmin Massacre Video  www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImqAVon92VM

One of the Lonmin values is To enhance the quality of life for our employees and their families and promote self esteem, then if so the question is if they really want to enhance their employees life and their families how can mine workers improve their lives while still earning less than R5000.00 ? This should be a lesson to other organisations that they must listen the demands and the need of the people who are working hard, who are getting the job done and who are making an organisation succeed, thus as Public Relation Practitioners this are the essential things that we ought to do to ensure that an organisation operate well :

•  we need to evaluate workers demands and needs.
• We must  maintain communication with employees pertaining workers issues
• We need to  find out what workers would like to see happening within the organisation
• the most essential thing is that we should not promise what the company would not offer.
•  We must have a consistent relationship with the workers Unions and start wages negotiations at the earlier stage to prevent unnecessary striking that may lead to loose of lives.
• Lastly the management should not forget that workers are the ones that get the job done,workers are the ones that satisfy clients therefore they also need to be satisfied and rewarded.

RELEASE YOUR VOICE.

L Buthelezi

Can somebody please rescue the sinking Department of Basic Education

                      More voices want the Minister of Education to be fired.

 There has been lot of bad publicity surrounding the Department of Basic Education under the administration of Minister Angie Motshekga. Several organisations including the ANC Youth league have come forward expressing their anger that Angie Motshekga should be released from her duties.
Hence Education is part our countries top 5 priorities that means government should be very serious about it.According to me President Jacob Zuma is letting us (the nation) down by not releasing the Minister of Education from her duties when it's clear that she is not unfit to handle her post because it's believed that she is canvassing for Zuma's Second Term in Mangaung, this is where the president  needs to be a loyal leader by isolating  personal issues from the duties. On the other hand the Spokesperson of the Department of  Basic Education Mr Panyaza Lesufi is busy spin doctoring the Minister when the image Department of Basic Education continues to sink at the end Limpopo learners will fail.

I say that as a nation we need a new broom (Minister) to sweep away and clean Angie Motshekga's mistakes because we can't rely on the same person to head the Department of Basic Education even next year .How can the  learners be motivated to study hard when the same government that is encouraging people to study fails to provide sufficient learning resources? How can the educators accomplished their work when they do not have enough resources to better the Grade 12's annual results?

Surely indeed we truly need a new broom to with fresh innovative ideas that will erase the current bad image and publicity of hanging around the sinking Department of Basic Education.

(Truck delivering boxes of books: http://www.zapiro.com/cartoon/995122-120708st#.UCO2vdXT33E )

During the702 Radio Talk interview on Redi Thlabi show  President Jacob Zuma blamed Verwoerd regarding the current education system of South Africa http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DKx2EGBjPY . Yes apartheid did harm South Africa but we can't keep on blaming it,the government needs top stop wasting money on luxury cars and unnecessary expenditure and focus on building the country. Bad public is not good at all for any organisation that serves the nation.


RELEASE YOUR VOICE.

L Buthelezi