Themba Sepotokele
For more than two decades, the DA in Gauteng, especially the long-serving shadow MEC for health Jack Bloom pushed a successful media onslaught to discredit the Gauteng Department of Health.
The campaign focused mainly on challenges bedevilling the ailing health system, which are also compounded by the influx of people from other provinces and foreign nationals – legally or illegally – seeking medical attention, not discounting the own goals scored by the health system, including corruption, rogue labour unions, unethical medical practitioners and uncouth nursing staff.
Over the years, Bloom’s media campaign worked like a charm. He would ask questions at the Gauteng legislature to expose the challenges in the health system and follow up the responses by issuing media statements. From Talk Radio 702 to SAFM, and any major newspaper you could think of, Bloom would be everywhere.
His campaign is firmly rooted in the DA communication and media strategy, however, he mastered it for a few reasons. First, health issues are human rights issues, therefore are easily relatable to media audiences.
Second, Bloom is passionate about the portfolio and easily sells the message to the media and the public at large, who mostly rely on public health.
As much as Bloom is an eloquent communicator, he’s also a master manipulator. He’s good at playing the media with his motives, often genuine, but always sinister.
The DA strategy is simple – play to the gallery. Anyway, political communication is a -science, and handling the media is an art. This is the game that the DA plays very well, hence since the establishment of the government of national unity, we now regularly hear of “DA ministers”.
A basic research would tell you that infrastructure minister Dean McPherson, Minister of Home Affairs Leon Schreiber, education minister Siviwe Gwarube and to some extent agriculture minister and DA leader John Steenhuizen are hogging the headlines relatively more than other ministers.
Bloom has always been three steps ahead on health issues. He gave numerous spokespersons a torrid time because he’s accessible to the media and always sets the agenda, especially over weekends when he would leave his cat and embark on walk-
abouts at any public healthcare facility.
For obvious reasons, Chris Hani Baragwanath, Charlotte Maxheke, Helen Joseph and George Mukhari hospitals are his happy hunting grounds. There’s always something to write about, unfortunately, the focus is usually on the bad side.
During a recent radio interview with Tshegohacho Moagi on Power FM, Bloom was at it again, with information that the department was spending a whooping R77-million and R72-million respectively on security services at Chris Hani Baragwanath and Charlotte Maxheke. He termed the amounts as exorbitant.
Without context and background, Bloom seemed right until the Gauteng health spokesperson Motaletale Modiba, who was listening in, was given a right of reply. Thanks to the Power FM team for a balanced interview, where Modiba, again, proved his pro-activeness and put into perspective the issue, leaving the public to decide as opposed to the usual one-sided, Bloom narrative.
As much as some spokespersons go underground when the going gets tough, Modiba, the National Press Club spokesperson of the year, provided a free lesson to many spokespersons.
It’s refreshing to notice that the department has a proactive, credible and competent spokesperson to deal with the mis- and disinformation pushed and peddled by Bloom and his ilk.
For decades, Bloom twisted facts, used and manipulated unsuspecting media, especially gullible soundbite-chasing journalists, as useful idiots.
Bloom’s strategy is peppered with innuendos, half-baked truths and disinformation. It borders on propaganda. Modiba’s alertness and pro-activeness brought it to a screeching halt on this occasion.
I would, therefore, implore government communicators, especially spokespersons, to emulate him. He can’t be a lone ranger, fighting against odds.
- Sepotokele is a journalist, communication strategist, media trainer and lecturer. He’s the author of Being a Spokesperson
