Gauteng pleased campaign is causing debate
29 November 2013
News that several political parties in the Gauteng Legislature have approached the Public Protector and the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) regarding the Gauteng Provincial Government's (GPG) multimedia service delivery feedback campaign left us intrigued.
This after the parties saw billboards highlighting the service delivery successes of the province. The two parties allege that the GPG's usage of certain colours in its campaign deviated from the province's official colours of gold, blue and gray and therefore were supportive of the ruling party's electioneering campaign.
However, the criticism exposes the parties' little understanding of the provincial campaign, and, importantly, the reasons behind it.
Firstly, nowhere in our Corporate Identity (CI) do we lock ourselves to the usage of certain colours for every campaign we embark upon. We have over the past year-or-so used both primary and secondary colours to suit the campaigns' objectives.
For instance, our adverts on HIV and Aids have, by and large, been using the colour red, as this is part of our secondary colours. Moreover, earlier this year we celebrated the province's achievement of an 83.9% pass rate - the highest in the country in 2012. The colour used in that campaign was blue. Our campaigns on building a green economy have also been predominantly developed using the colour ‘green'.
The usage of the colour green in our current campaign is also based on logic, not any political affiliation. Many people associate the colour green with growth and our message at the end of this term is that Gauteng has grown in leaps and bounds over the past years as the Census 2011 and Gauteng City-Region Observatory's Quality of Life Survey attest.
Both sets of research show that the delivery of services has grown in the province. There is growth in the number of people housed; there is growth in the number of people getting access to sanitation and water services (98% access to piped water); there is growth in the number of people living with HIV who are now on Anti-Retroviral Treatment; there is growth in the number of children at school getting a free education and meals and there is also growth in the number of people choosing Gauteng as a home. There is little doubt that we, as a province, have grown since 1994.
We are thus surprised that our usage of the colour yellow has evoked such a lot of interest while the message being conveyed is playing second fiddle. It is clear that our story of service delivery has irked certain people. This is because for the first time it tells the unmediated story of the performance of this government. Having failed to challenge our story of service delivery facts; the debate has degenerated into a bun fight over colours.
Lastly, it is false to say that we are paying R2m a month for the billboards. We are using various service providers and the cost depends on duration, location of site and the size of the billboard. This is a multi-media campaign and the final costs will be reflected in the Annual Report. As with other campaigns, we are deriving a lot of value-add and discounts due to bulk-buying.
We are happy that our messages are finally reaching ordinary people in the province and, at the same time, also giving us a lot of PR value; something which has not happened when we used the blue or gold in our campaign.
Statement issued by Gauteng government Head of Communication, Matlakala Motloung, November 29 2013
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