Government communication in times of crisis: The priorities and trends in South Africa’s response to COVID-19

Abstract

The effectiveness of a government’s communication, especially in times of crisis, is crucial to its legitimacy, reputation, disaster management and its ability to ensure the wellbeing of its people. This paper examines the focus and trends in press statements published on South Africa’s official coronavirus website during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Government decisions, successes and challenges were frequently communicated to the public through these statements. The study aimed to understand what was communicated regarding government’s priorities and the factors that shaped them. Data were extracted from 483 press statements published between 05 March 2020 and 15 January 2021. Thematic analysis and mean scores were used to identify the focus and trends in the messages, while the Wilcoxon signed rank test (WSRT) was used to identify the significance of the changes in the mean scores. The results showed a coordinated and persistent effort to inform the public with credible, accurate, timely and empowering information. The most persistent priority of the government was to control the spread of the virus, while several issues relating to the socio-economic wellbeing of the people were prioritised at different stages of the pandemic. There was a parallel movement between the trajectory of the disease and government decisions, suggesting that government response was mostly reactive to the behaviour of the pandemic. The South African government needs to be more proactive in its disaster response and demonstrate a nuanced understanding of its citizens and their challenges.

A Critical Review of the Sustainability of South Africa's Health System, User’s Satisfaction and Key Performance Scores

“…The study conducted a content analysis of several research papers and policy papers in the South African health sector. Researchers like Maama (2020) and Sogfa et al (2022) agree that reading and analyzing public documents using a content analysis research strategy is valid and reliable. The documents and literature were read from cover to cover to comprehend the significant goals and their strategic ramifications.…”

Behind the scenes: A critical discourse analysis of Botswana government power plays on Facebook during two post-millennial state-owned organizational crises

“…From strides in the development of theoretical frameworks (Benoit, 2013; Coombs, 2004) to the use of social media during crises (Austin et al, 2012; Du Plessis, 2018; Lin et al, 2016; Roshan et al, 2016), crisis communication scholarship has continued to grow. Scholarship on crisis communications in Africa has also been developing, particularly in South Africa, where an initial focus on strategic communication and public relations (Wassserman and Hyde-Clarke, 2016) has now expanded into more specific crisis studies such as how the government used a professional and nuanced approach to stakeholder communications during COVID-19 (John et al, 2022) but could have focused further on emotional messaging (Wiese and Van Der Westhuzien, 2023), or how social media should be embedded in strategic crisis communication planning (Chiotia et al, 2022). Studies focusing on Africa often highlight cultural aspects of crisis communications, for example, the implications of high-power distance and respect for authority in Ghana (Kwansah-Aido, 2017) or the importance of culture, ethnicity and religion in Nigeria over accuracy and the timeliness of information (George, 2016, 2017).…”