GNU: Bid to discourage negative social media comments

The government of national unity (GNU) must deal harshly with leaders who use social media to make negative comments on issues of national interest, experts say.

The communication gurus were commenting after the Minister in the Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, said the GNU would train Cabinet members on how to use social media platforms responsibly.

Ntshavheni stated that the initiative aimed at “training the officials is expected to start in the next few weeks”.

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Commenting without having all the facts

The idea of training the leaders came after recent incidents whereby some GNU ministers, deputies and senior politicians went rampant on social media, airing their views on sensitive issues, without having had all the facts of the subjects or consulted with their colleagues.

Some of the leaders accused of misusing the platform include the ANC’s Fikile Mbalula, Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure Dean Macpherson, DA leader Helen Zille and Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture Gayton McKenzie.

The experts welcomed the initiative but said it was not enough to slow down the officials from misusing social media. Communication expert Clive Simpkins said, “What the government may be trying to do, is limit damaging messaging. And no amount of training around adhering to a social media policy is going to stop ministers from using the most direct, powerful and cost-free channel available to them.

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“All organisations have social media policies to protect their image and reputation. And have had, for decades. The huge difference is that when you agree to those, you understand that the penalty for nonadherence can be dismissal.

“The crux is that people voluntarily adhere to image and reputation guidelines only when they buy into a common vision for an entity. This is not and never will be the case for any GNU where interests are disparate and very often, conflicting. It’s a relationship of expediency and convenience. Not one of choice.

“Most politicians are ego-driven. They’ll always default to what works first for them and then only consider the impact on the government.”

Heed the experts’ advice

Another expert who shared the same sentiment was communications specialist Dudu Mvimbi Leshabane, who said it was about time the leaders learnt to take advice from their organisations’ communication experts.

“Before a minister could comment on issues of public interest on a public platform they must consult with relevant people from the department so that they will be advised on how to go about doing it.

“You cannot train a person how to comment on issues, but coming up with a strong social media policy will assist because everyone will know that they are not allowed to give their unofficial comment on.”

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Mvimbi-Leshabane said another thing that would assist to address the problem was to design a GNU media strategy to enable all the leaders to communicate effectively and use proper channels.

“A social media policy will not restrict officials an opportunity to comment on issues, but it stipulates how it should be done without damaging the reputation of the organisation.

“Ministers should not be allowed to make comments that promote their political parties or aimed to outshine others ministers or departments.”