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.