Khasho September 2008 - National Prosecuting Authority

12NPA EventsThe life of a regional communication managerThe NPA’s regional communication managers play an important role in promoting the image of theorganisation. Khasho spoke to Sandy Godlwana (SG), Lehuma Ntuane (LN), Tsepo Ndwalaza (TN),Khuselwa Rantjie (KR), Frank Lesenyego (FL), Medupe Simasiku (MS) and Natasha Ramkisson (NR)to gain some insight into this important function.Regional communicationmanagers (from left): TsepoNdwalaza, Medupe Simasiku,Sandy Godlwana, FrankLesenyego, Khuselwa Yonto,Natasha Ramkisson andLehuma NtuaneHow do you view your role as a regionalcommunication manager (RCM)?SG: It’s always great to transform adream into reality. I’m very passionateabout what I do, and my work is reallystimulating. I particularly enjoy the interactionwith internal and externalstakeholders. Challenging as this aspect ofmy job may be, it is one area I thrive in. I getso much fulfilment from having satisfiedstakeholders. At any given time of the weekand month, my work is synonymous withpressure. These are the times when one’sability to work and cope under pressure istested to the fullest (in terms of the media,for instance, journalists always have tightdeadlines, even if one is busy with otherwork, the media always manages to win).LN: My role in the region is to coordinatethe activities of the organisation and tocreate a presence and visibility of the NPAin the existing media platform, therebycreating positive media coverage.How have you found the work in yourregion so far?TN: People are beginning to understandour role and we are excited about theprogrammes that we are working on. I findmy work environment to be very positiveand I have received a lot of support frommy colleagues.KR: I find it hard sometimes to crack it: tomake people understand the impact of thework that I am doing or the importance ofutilising my service to maximise the impactof the work of the organisation.How do you distinguish between yourrole as a communicator and that ofother units/people in your region?FL: My role is to support the core functionof prosecutions by communicatinginformation that will assist the generalpublic in understanding the work of theNPA and in participating in preventing andcombating crime.MS: I have a personal work plan thatdistinguishes my role. However, there aretimes that I need support from colleagueslocally in terms of transport, photocopyingand many other administration functions,and they are always willing to help. Theroles are clear and easily distinguishable,especially those that need to be donecollectively with Human ResourceManagement and Development. At timesI receive calls from the media regarding acertain matter in court, and I need to linkthe media with the relevant prosecutor,or request the prosecutor to brief meaccordingly, thus enabling me to addressmedia queries on time.Do you think there’s any confusion aboutyour role?KR: I would not call it confusion, butcolleagues need to understand the workwe are doing, and that it entails muchmore than just issuing media statementsor sourcing venues for regional events. Iregard the input of an RCM as critical to thesuccess of an event: from the planning tothe implementation.SG: I was fortunate enough to have beenintroduced to colleagues at various meetingsby the Director of Public Prosecutions. Inone of the management meetings I wasrequested to make a presentation on whatI’d be doing in the region. In addition,a regional communication strategy waspresented to managers who, I assume,filtered that information to other colleaguesin the different clusters.Do you think it has made a differenceto have an RCM on the ground?NR: Yes, definitely. I may be biased, butI have received a lot of positive responsesfrom people in my region who support theidea of an RCM. They’ve said that it hasmade a huge difference. I think that we’veonly just started making a change, as there’sa lot more work to be done.continued on page 13Professionalism, Integrity, Service Excellence, Accountability and Credibility