DAY ONE

SUNDAY, 10 DECEMBER 2023

14:00 – 20:00

Arrival and check in 

Various Hotels

16:00 – 20:00

Registration 

ICC

DAY TWO 

MONDAY, 11 DECEMBER 2023

PROGRAMME DIRECTOR: MS AYANDA ALLIE

08:00 – 08:30

Arrival and Registration 

ICC

OFFICIAL OPENING (PLENARY)

08:30 – 08:45

Opening & Welcome

Rendition of the National Anthem 

In Memoriam

Programme Director

08:45 – 09:00

Welcome Remarks by Host Municipality

Cllr Mxolisi Kaunda, 

Mayor City of eThekwini Municipality

09:00 – 09:15 

Welcome by the Host Province

Cllr Arthur Ntuli

Provincial Chairperson: SALGA KZN

09:15 – 09:30

GCIS Address

Government Communicators as agents for Nation Building

Ms Nomonde Mnukwa

GCIS Director General (Acting)

09:30 – 09:45

Official Opening Address

Navigating the Terrain: Challenges and Opportunities for Local Government Communicators

Ald. Xanthea Limberg 

SALGA Deputy President

09:45 – 10:30

Keynote Address:

Bridging the communications gap between municipalities and communities, cultivating public trust.

Hon Thembi Nkadimeng

Minister Of CoGTA

10:30 – 11:00

Engagement with Ministers, Mayor and SALGA DP 

TEA BREAK 

11:00 – 11:15

PANEL 1 (PLENARY)

Advocating for the recognition of communication as a strategic function

11:15 – 13:15

Government Communication Guidelines: Provide guidance on how the Communication function should be positioned as a tool to enhance service delivery, including its funding resources and its location in the municipality. We take stock of how far we have gone in implementing this function in municipalities in line with the policy guidelines and unravel what could be the hindrances to its full implementation if there are any shortfalls

SALGA Observations and Recommendations

Unpacking policy position and government communication guidelines summarily and what they seek to achieve

Role of CoGTA in enhancing the policy implementation in

Municipalities

Sharing insights on the calibre of PR/ Communications/ Marketing practitioners required academically then and now view

Sharing pockets of excellence and how they achieved some of the policy recommendations and challenges:

Moderator:

Ayanda Allie

Panelists

Lance Joel

SALGA Chief of Operations

Ms Nomonde Mnukwa

GCIS Director General (Acting)

Legadima Leso

CoGTA Chief Director- Branding, Marketing and Communication

Brightness Mangolothi

HERS-SA

Ndabezitha Tenza

HOC Harry Gwala District Municipality

Luncedo Walaza,

HOC, Matatiele Local Municipality

Gert Sibande DM

Qondile Khedema

HOC, Mangaung Metro

LUNCH BREAK: 

13:15 – 14:00

PANEL 2

Navigating Content Currents in Local Government

14:00 - 16:00

Local government communicators face the challenge of navigating rapidly evolving communication environments, which necessitates the creation of creative approaches for producing and disseminating content that successfully engages diverse communities.

Audience engagement with brands

Sharing of best Practice- is local government adequately engaging its audiences? 

Content strategy in a digital age- are your audiences thoroughly engaged?

Harnessing the power of social media for community building and effective dissemination of information

Decode Communications:
 Developing robust strategies for crisis communication in the age of social media and instant information sharing

Moderator

Patrick Mahlangu

Panelists

Athi Geleba

Head of Digital Communications

The Presidency

Lorato Tshenkeng 

Reputation Management and Crisis Communication Specialist

Mandla Nsele

eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality 

Priya Reddy 

City of Cape Town 

TEA BREAK 

16:00 – 16:15 

PANEL  3

Transformative communication - beyond public relations

16:15 – 18:00

The payment for municipal services by SA Businesses and residents has been a much-deliberated issue as consumer debts in many municipalities continue to intensify due to payment default or non-payment. Debt owed to municipalities has been cited to be more than R300 billion, adding to the financial woes of municipalities that are struggling to meet revenue targets amid persistent power cuts, natural disasters etc.

Municipalities struggle to collect payments for services from consumers and in turn battle to pay suppliers. Over the past year, municipalities have taken brave steps in collecting revenue from business to South African consumers. 

How do MarComms practitioners navigate through this taking into consideration poverty, unemployment, the culture of entitlement, dissatisfaction with service provision, rise in the cost of municipal services and communication gap issues, and problems associated with municipal decision-making. 

Unpacking Asisho! Let’s Talk in Support of Revenue Collection

Municipal Best Practices

Media Monitoring 

Moderator

Ayanda Allie

Panelists

SALGA 

Selby Bokaba

HOC, City of Tshwane

Sthembiso Soyaya

Nelson Mandela Metro

Zimkhitha Macingwane

OR Tambo District

Mtubatuba Municipality

18:00 – 18:20

Open Mic and Wrap Up of Day 1

Programme Director 

NETWORKING DINNER AND AWARDS 

18H30 – 20H30

DAY THREE:

TUESDAY, 12 DECEMBER 2023

 PROGRAMME DIRECTOR: MS AYANDA ALLIE

08:00 – 08:30

Arrival and Registration

08:30 – 08:45

Recap of Day 1

Programme director

08:45 – 09:00

Municipal Leaders Media and Stakeholder Engagement Programme

Dr Thobile Mhlongo

Senior Manager Municipal Learning & Development

PANEL 4: The Masterclass

How to leverage digital technologies and associated innovations
 to transform local government marketing communications

09:00 – 11:00 

The fourth industrial technology describes the rapid transformation of societies, economies and the adoption of new technologies such as smart devices, artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, and algorithms.  It is further propelled by the increasing connectivity of people and devices and the exponential growth of data. 

Marketing and communication are among many other disciplines impacted through digital communication, innovation diffusion and polymedia. The speed and wide scope of Industry 4.0 have presented both opportunities, challenges and risks to business and government.

What are the strategies and innovations that marketing communication practitioners can employ to adapt to the transformative influence of industry 4.0 in their field?

How prepared are practitioners in the marketing communication discipline for the influence of industry 4.0?

How do we leverage on the use AI to support work the of communicators, working faster, creativity, translations?

Understanding market segmentation

Creating smart content

Data harnessing

Moderator:

Kutlwano Chaba 

Chief Digital officer 

Panelists:

Mandisa Nkwanyana

Rubixx Media

Tiyani Makamu

Nonzero-Africa 

TEA BREAK 

11:00 – 11:15

PANEL 5: The Media Pitch

Forging Strategic Partnerships – Navigating Local Government Communication Amid the Evolving South African Media Landscape 

11:15 – 13:15

The ever-changing media landscape in South Africa has seen media houses retrenching and downsizing. Community media continues to suffer the most when budget cuts are imposed and are denied revenue. Media Stats also show that there are fewer traditional newspapers and more digital platforms are being introduced. Even the changes in the audience have also shifted dramatically.

Identifying and Discussing the Key Challenges Faced by Media Houses, with a Focus on Community Media Amidst Budget Cuts and Revenue Denials. Exploring strategies and solutions to address the challenges 

Moderator:

Sivuyile Mbambato

Slindile Khanyile

SANEF KZN

Londeka Dlamini

Izinga Creatives

National Community Radio Forum / MDDA

Khanya Kalashe,

Head of Comms, Umzimvubu LM

Percy Moagi

Ephraim Mogale LM

13:15 – 13:30

Open Mic Session and Closing Address

Lance Joel

SALGA Chief of Operations

CLOSURE

Programme Director

LUNCH & DEPARTURE

13:45