Speak to citizens in their language, officials told at Social Media Summit for Government

City of Tshwane Mayor Dr Nasiphi Moya has called on government officials around the country to speak and communicate with people in a language they understand.

Government officials have been accused of malicious compliance in the manner which they consult with citizens for key democratic instruments, including the passing of budgets and consultation for key legislative reforms. 

Moya was speaking at the Social Media Summit for Government at the University of Johannesburg. She said it was important to note that a lot of people, including the elderly and young graduates with degrees, did not understand how governments worked. 

“It is important to deliver messages to people in a language they understand,” she stressed during her address, speaking on the topic of Why Citizen Engagement is the Heart of Governance. 

“We table these complex budgets with 200 pages or so, then you take it to the people at a townhall in Ga Rankuwa with these complex tariff structures and very sophisticated terms, and then you explain this 200-page budget in 19 slides and in the room, maybe there were 85 people. 

“When those people stand up, they stand up and ask about potholes and their unmet expectations, so you see there is a lot of miscommunication about what is actually happening and everything is happening, it is English all the way…. There is this malicious compliance, we want a government centred around people,” she said.  

Moya, who has been mayor since October last year, said it was important for government officials to communicate honestly with residents, communicating not only positive updates, but actively responding to burning issues too. She said listening as well was important. 

Notably, she candidly acknowledged her lack of a strong constituency in Tshwane, explaining that her appointment followed her party's political manoeuvres that removed the former mayor, Cilliers Brink, from the DA. She expressed her desire to lead a people-centred government and urged officials at the summit to prioritise the needs of the citizens.

Speaking on a panel discussion around civic tech and government, Dr Sandile Mbatha, the founder and chief solutions officer for SM Digital, said the government was not adequately adopting civic technology because the government was led by people who were bottom feeders, who could not be employed elsewhere. 

“This is similar to universities doing research detached from where they are located, then you have a government whose biggest problem in the public service is led by bottom feeders, who are employed because they cannot be employed anywhere else. So when they are presented with problems, it does not become about resolving challenges, it's about ticking boxes,” he said.

Mbatha said it was tragic to witness big metros like Joburg and Tshwane dilapidated when they could use civic technology methods to address their problems without having to go through rigid and complex government procurement route, which would end up costing ten times more. 

Koketso Moeti, the founding executive director for Amandla.mobi, said there was a prevalence of rushing to build apps and tech which did not centre the people. She spoke of a host of public-funded initiatives, such as the launch of a pothole reporting app by the Joburg Roads Agency in May 2014, which was hailed as a first of its kind, but was now defunct, and the issue of potholes had since worsened to epic levels.

She also spoke of how over 50 countries launched Covid tracing apps at the peak of the coronavirus, with limited success. 

“Very often we aim to solve complex systemic issues, and everywhere I look, we misdiagnose problems,” she said. 

“The JRA launched a pothole reporting app, and in less than 3 months, there were major problems with the GPS mapping and other issues, because it was assumed there was a functioning JRA which would administer the app.

“The application was branded a success, a first of its kind, despite there being no measurement on the customer end, and part of the reason we misdiagnose, is because we conflate innovation with invention. 

“We rush to build without centring people, we can’t just add tech and stir…,” she said, adding also that language was a huge barrier.

She said the language barrier and the dominance of English, was being used by those who were a minority, to reinforce injustices and they were using digital technology to enable this. She said there were also many public-private partnerships, where the government was outsourcing its functions to private players, who were in turn profiteering. 

Kavisha Pillay, the executive director for Campaign On Digital Ethics (CODE), said technology was also being misused, like in the City of Cape Town, where millions were being spent on audio surveillance tech to pick up gunshots, but the technology was not helping in addressing the problem. 

“This is not helping us, we already know its happening - the millions spent should be spent trying to deal with the socio-economic issues, instead of confirming something we already know,” she said. 

Moeti added that the audio technology surveillance had been found in other countries, to heighten the conflict between police and people as the technology was found to be inaccurate in pinpointing the exact location of the gunshot sounds. 

She also spoke to the 2023 Gauteng launch of e-panic buttons, where people in dangerous areas were given buttons to press when distressed, but this was happening while police stations routinely did not answer their phones when residents called in distress. 

“Police don’t even answer phones when you call… what was deployed was it was assumed the system is efficient, we need to invest in projects centred on people,” she said. 

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