Communication Channels Used By The Jozini Community

The community does not only express itself through the limited government channels of communication. Jozini has a number of creative means of ensuring that its voice is heard. These include community radio, meetings with traditional authorities, elected ward councillors, producer clubs, co-operative groups, religious/church groups, through researchers/extension officers, as well as through channels made available by civil society/NGO type organisations operating in the Jozini area.

The agency of rural communities is important in the process of development communication. Women’s clubs, youth co-operatives, village gardening and chicken projects are among the communication channels through which rural communities find voice. The gap between rural dwellers and policy makers, often located in big cities far from rural communities, is a big one. Extension officials and fieldworkers provide an important bridge between communities and officials and their roles have been grossly underestimated. In their daily interaction with communities, extension officers and field workers are able to capture the policy choices and challenges faced by these communities. The regular (often monthly) visits by these officials are vital to improving communication between communities and policy makers. The challenges in this regard, are associated with the reporting templates that these officials are required to use, which do not allow for the inclusion of quality data about the various problems encountered by communities.

During interaction with extension officers, fieldworkers and local councillors (attended by the author) rural communities clearly articulated their development challenges and suggested policy alternatives. In the interaction with these officials, communities suggested the type of programmes and projects that need to be considered. Some of the channels open to communities for discussing pressing policy challenges as well as development opportunities include NGOs, church, the IDP and parliamentary imbizos, among others. A trend associated with rural community report backs is that community members tend to be critical of government when in discussion with NGOs and CBOs, but shy away from speaking vociferously when government officials are present. One interviewee suggested that this is the result of people fearing that if they are too critical they could be targeted and considered to be against the government or the party of the attending official and their access to resources thereafter restricted or cut off altogether.