Manyi's next onslaught

Jimmy Manyi, the government spokesman, is now planning to buy air time on television for national ministers.

Speaking at the Public Relations Institute of Southern Africa's annual conference in Durban, Manyi said the government was being "forced" to find ways to get its message across because it was getting a raw deal from the media.

Last week, Manyi sparked heated debate when he said he would take control of the government's R1-billion advertising budget and spend it according to how well media organisations told "the truth" about service delivery.

Yesterday, he said: "The government is looking at a five-week television programme where ministers would inform members of the public about their programmes because the media is failing to convey government messages as expected.

"We are at the moment trying to procure a space. As the government, we take communication seriously and we will stop at nothing to see to it that our messages get across," Manyi said.

There were plans to relaunch the government magazine Vukuzenzele as a newspaper, which would be solely about government projects, he said.

The state would print 1.7 million copies every month at a cost of R40-million.

The SA National Editors Forum and other independent media institutions last week slammed the plan to spend selectively on advertising, and called on President Jacob Zuma to reconsider the scheme.

Sanef chairman Mondli Makhanya said Manyi's plan amounted to a scheme to bribe the media to write favourably about the government.

But Manyi yesterday appeared unmoved by the outcry.

 "We don't play games in this government. We are not messing around.

"The first five pages of the publication [Vukuzenzele] will be about government's five priorities," he said.

The publication would be distributed countrywide. Currently, it is available only at 165 Thusong Centres.

"We are even thinking of using clinics as our distribution centres for this publication because we want to make it as accessible as possible to every person," he said.

Manyi accused the media of "picking and choosing" which government messages to convey.

He said while the media was doing a "good job as a watchdog", reporting on the government was selective.

He went on to say that his job was not to give reporters "scoops".

"A government spokesperson is not a media deployee, but he communicates cabinet decisions. He is not a source and he can't be called for exclusives, [but] when reporters do not get what they want, they think one is blocking information," he said.

Manyi sang Zuma's praises, saying he was the "most accessible" president yet.

"He sometimes listens to the people through the presidential hotline."