Deputy Speaker, the Congress of the People cannot support this Budget Vote because we cannot support the use of public funds for government propaganda. [Interjections.] By doing so we are aligning ourselves with the struggle to defend the values and spirit of a free and open constitutional democracy. The Government Communication Information Systems, GCIS, has a fundamental duty to manage communication and the flow of information on government service delivery that affect the lives of our people in a responsible, nonpartisan manner. What the country needs is open and transparent government communication telling the good news, the not so good news and, yes, also the really bad news and how government will correct what went wrong.
In a constitutional democracy, a free and independent media is an indisputable key stakeholder and partner in that process. However, under the leadership of the new director-general of this department this partnership has been contaminated, in particularly lately, when Mr Manyi dangled a R1 billion advertising budget in front of journalists, informing them that their newspapers could share in the advertising budget that we vote for today in proportion to the amount of government propaganda they publish.
Policies to centralise government communication is nothing less than consolidating a propaganda machine with totalitarian control of what goes out and what stays under cover. That is backed up with draconian censorship, hidden in the secrecy Bill which, although bogged down in the process at present, is still very much alive in the ANC. Add to that a cadre-laden media tribunal and South Africans will soon hear only what the ruling party wants them to hear. That is not what constitutional democracy is all about because ... [Time expired.]
Vote agreed to (Democratic Alliance, Congress of the People, Freedom Front Plus, African Christian Democratic Party and Independent Democrats dissenting).
Vote No 10 - National Treasury - put.