Public relations in national-building : a participatory development communication perspective for South Africa

Abstract

The goal of the study was to advance a participatory development communication perspective for South Africa and suggest how the government can facilitate the country's democratisation by using government PR as a strategic planning tool and developing a government communication framework for nation-building by integrating PR approaches into the communication component of constructing national identity, social cohesion and Nation-building programmes. The primary orientation of this study is interdisciplinary combining a theoretical framework of the concept of the 'nation', the discursive construction of national identity and major debates surrounding the practice of nation-building. In addition to the background on South Africa's history and the current social, political and economic climate, this study applies critical discourse analysis to the role that PR contributes to the advancement of government communication programmes in South Africa. The aim was to explore the role played by PR within the democratic nation-building processes in South Africa and identify which discourses have been and are being mobilised in constructing South African national identity in the context of the young South African democracy and the nation as a whole. The final analysis demonstrates that while Presidential speeches promote hope, unity and citizen participation, they also portray South African citizens as united but diverse individuals whose primary responsibility is to celebrate the country's political transformation and demonstrate loyalty to the post-apartheid goals of nation-building. Furthermore, critical events like the 1994 general elections and major sporting events like the 1995 Rugby World Cup, as well as the 2010 FIFA soccer World Cup are seen as milestone moments in the history of the nation. A mixed-methods approach was used in the study, with qualitative and quantitative research methodologies complementing each other. Various domains of enquiry were used in the research. On the one hand there was a theoretical analysis and appraisal of the PR role in nation-building and Critical discourse analysis of Presidential speeches as a possible instrument for the facilitation of direct democracy. These were complemented by empirical evidence obtained from research participants with a view to reaching conclusions about the research problem. The study analysed interview variation in the constructions of themes according to the different positions people were responding from and also examined the meanings given in relation to Nation-building, national identity and social cohesion. The findings provide examples of an emphasis on the civic dimension of national identity, with speakers emphasising the rights and duties of South African citizenship. But more prominent was a discourse that goes beyond a formal, legalistic civic identity to include a more emotional, semi-cultural bond such as 'unity in diversity' and the 'Rainbow Nation' discourse. The study concludes by recommending that in order to anchor the democratic Nation-building with in the country, the government: should use PR to communicate with the citizenry and keep them in the loop about these adjustments; promote the country's Nation-building process by acknowledging that PR has a critical strategic planning function to cement national unity and develop a shared democratic national identity for South Africa.