BKB Africa meets President Zuma

The third of June saw the first joint sitting of the newly-constituted Parliament and the State of the Nation Address. It was an important moment in South African democratic history and BKB Africa was there.

This year's Address was special for several reasons. Firstly, it was the very first State of the Nation Address by the third democratically elected South African President Jacob Zuma. Secondly, because President Jacob Zuma came to power on the ticket of more and better public participation in decision-making. Public participation is extremely important for the consolidation and activation of democracy and it is all about effective and reciprocal communication and turning this into action.

The theme of the President's address was dubbed "Parliament entrenching people-centered democracy in achieving development goals". This obviously refers to Parliament's core activity, namely to monitor and evaluate the Executive, but it also means that Parliament has to be an enabler of public participation. This means going out into the communities and establishing effective mechanisms for government-to-citizen and citizen-to-government communication.

Training Government communicators and representatives of parliamentary democracy offices in campaigning, effective communication and real public outreach is very important. Lessons can be learned from successful campaigns overseas, for example the Obama Presidential Campaign which was highly effective in activating and mobilising millions of people on grass root level for democracy. There are also European lessons on how to creatively promote public participation by taking decision-making onto the streets, an issue that BKB Africa has extensive experience in.

Although South Africa has its own dynamics, many lessons can in fact apply to South Africa. BKB Africa offers communication and campaign training, practical and interactive workshops on the Obama Campaign and assists clients in devising effective campaigns to promote public participation or mobilise and activate people on certain social issues.