Skip to main content

Playing the PR Game







The term education refugees that was used by the Western Cape Premier and Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Hellen Zille to refer to students from the Eastern Cape caused a  stir. A lot of people that I met were hot under the collar because of the use of the word. I do not want to get into the merits of the debate suffice to say that the Premier ultimately apologized after a lot of trying to justify herself.  This was after some even from her political party voiced concerns and one of these was a Democratic Alliance’s Councilor from Khayelitsha, Siphumle Yalezo.  He asked the Premier to explain the comment to prospective black voters in his Khayelitsha constituency.

 What I found more interesting is the public relations (PR) aspect of the discussion.  I have once written in this column about an incident that took place when I was still a University of Cape Town student and writing for a student newspaper there. Mrs. Zille was responsible for public relations at the university and at some point disagreed with what she perceived as our writing without thinking of the image of the University.  I also mentioned that as a Mayor of Cape Town she impressed me with the way she took communications and public relations seriously.  This was after I listened to a program she was part of a weekly basis in one radio station.  I got flack form some in Mbekweni who felt that I was promoting her. One councilor went as far as accusing me of misleading their voters I, nonetheless, stuck to my guns as I did not mean to make a political statement but am just passionate about communications and public relations.   In fact, up until the “refugee” debacle I felt that Zille is one of few political leaders who can play the PR game very well in South Africa.

All of us should know that for a public figure everything you do or say is public relations. According to the Institute of Public Relations PR is “about reputation- the result of what you do, what you say, what others say about you”.  It aims at influencing how people view you. Let us consider that the Democratic Alliance’s stated objective is to be the government of the country.  The reality is that there is an overwhelming African majority and to win elections in about eight provinces you need to get them on your side.   This makes Africans a very important audience for the DA’s message.

The comment about refugees somehow got a racial interpretation.  It could be unfair to assume to Zille meant her comment to be against Africans.    The reality of the situation is that it caught on to the perception of being anti-African.  I was taught in marketing that perceptions are a reality for anyone who want to influence people and their opinions.   A starting point of a campaign should be to understand prevailing perceptions and plan with them in mind.  For a long time the Premier refused to acknowledge that there are people who were hurt by the refugee comment and sought to explain and contextualize it. This acerbated the situation and led to more accusations.  This matter became an election football in the recent by-elections, especially in the Eastern Cape. When the DA support dropped in a ward in Nelson Mandela Bay journalists sought to understand whether the drop was related to the “refugee” comment as this has been uppermost in people’s minds.  An earlier apology could have limited the damage although political opponents will keep on trying to exploit this debacle.  They are bound to do that as Zille does not make many such mistakes.
An example to be learnt from the Thabo Mbeki issue with “aids denialism” is that at times it helps to retreat from a battle, especially if there is an overwhelming body of opinion against your stance.  Mbeki’s communicators could not deal with perceptions around the issue and he dragged the debate until it soiled his legacy, rightly or wrongly.
It is true that at times perceptions overshadow facts and politicians have to learn to deal with this reality and not ignore it.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Mandela I celebrate Public Friends Friends except acquaintances Only Me Custom Close Friends Hi Phaphs See all lists... Department of Science and Technology Drakenstein Municipality Pretoria, South Africa Area Drakenstein municipality Hamburg, Germany Area RED TRADE Impala Platinum Cape Winelands District Municipality Stellenbosch, Western Cape Area Family Acquaintances Go Back The former president of South Africa Nelso n Rolihlahla Mandela is no longer physically with us but his memory lives on.   South Africa still become abuzz with celebrations to honour the great man on his birth date.   Many people commemorate what is known as Mandela day by spending 67 minutes of doing good on that day.  The campaign is based on the 67 years Mandela spent in the service of his fellow man.  I see that the new Cape Town Mayor Patricia De lille got what led to former Mayor Peter Marais fired right.  She named a street in Cape Town after Nelson...
2 comments
Read more

Paarl Uprising 1962

Growing up in Mbekweni I got used to being associated with the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC/Poqo) when visiting other townships. This is because Paarl has been viewed as a PAC stronghold since the 1962 Paarl uprising that was led by that organisation. The history of the PAC struggles can not be told without mentioning Paarl 1962. That was when a mass uprising consisting of hundreds of men took place. They marched in the morning of November 22 from Mbekweni and Langabuya to town with the intent of attacking the police station and prison. The Late Minister of Justice in the ANC led government Dullar Omar recalled this event when accepting an award for Human Rights in 2004. Omar who, in 1963, was one of the lawyers who were to defend the men recalled that: “ The PAC was particularly active in Paarl. Suddenly hardly without any notice the so-called Paarl riots (the Poqo uprising) exploded on the South African scene. These poor migrant workers had had enough. They marched through...
Post a Comment
Read more

Arriving in Germany

I left South Africa on July 31, 2012 and arrived in Frankfurt, Germany on the morning of August 1 on what was my first trip overseas.      I went there as part of a group eleven professionals from Southern Africa.    There were four South Africans, three Zambians, two Zimbabweans, one person each from Swaziland and Malawi.    I was the only one from the Western Cape and the other South Africans were based in Gauteng.     The majority in our group, seven in total, were economists.    The group varied in age from just over twenty years to just over fourty.    We were part of a one year program called the International Leadership Training in Regional Economic Development and Trade.    Four months of our time in Germany was to be spent as interns in different companies and organizations.    The program is organized and hosted by the Deutsche Gesselschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GI...
2 comments
Read more