MAHIKENG – The North West Provincial Government has reaffirmed its commitment to boosting the local media landscape, revealing a multimillion-rand investment to ensure the sustainability of community-driven communication platforms.
Speaking during his budget speech at the Provincial Legislature on Friday, 26 June 2026, Premier Lazarus Mokgosi emphasized that his administration remains firmly committed to providing financial and developmental support to community media outlets.
Premier Mokgosi highlighted that this commitment was recently reinforced following a high-level engagement between the Government Communication and Information System (GCIS) and the Provincial Executive Council. Led by the Deputy Minister in the Presidency, Honourable Kenny Morolong, the session focused on the robust implementation of the National Government Communication Policy.
A central directive of this national policy is the mandatory allocation of at least 30% of government advertising expenditure to community and small commercial media outlets.
“This is a directive that we must collectively strive to implement and uphold,” Mokgosi stated.
He issued a strong call to action for all provincial departments, state-owned entities, and municipalities to honour this policy framework.
The Premier shared promising financial figures from the previous financial year, demonstrating that the province’s support extends beyond mere policy discussions.
“I am pleased to report to this august House that in the last financial year, the province spent over R9.6 million on community media,” Mokgosi announced, noting that provincial departments accounted for the largest share of this expenditure.
Mokgosi underlined that the survival of these platforms is directly linked to youth empowerment and democratic engagement, as many of these grassroots media houses are spearheaded by young professionals.
Their growth, he argued, depends heavily on consistent government advertising spend and unhindered access to information.
Concluding his address on the matter, the Premier urged district and local municipalities to scale up their participation. He encouraged local government spheres to fully recognise the critical role community media plays in grass-roots democracy, urging them to utilize these platforms as primary channels for public communication and citizen engagement.
Driving Economic Growth and Digital Inclusion
Meanwhile, Mokgosi emphasized that the rollout of public broadband infrastructure over the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) will serve as a foundational engine for local job creation and tech-driven entrepreneurship.
By connecting isolated peripheral communities, the provincial government aims to stimulate competitive local markets, foster enterprise development, and open specialized employment sectors for youth in tech manufacturing and network maintenance.
Furthermore, the expansion of high-speed public connectivity ensures that rural and underserved communities gain unhindered access to vital electronic citizen portals, online learning environments, and virtual healthcare resources. This broad strategic pivot shifts public administration away from localized, physical constraints toward a robust system of universal civic accessibility.
“These investments are not optional, they are essential for improving service delivery, strengthening governance, and enabling long-term socio-economic impact. We are laying the foundation for a digitally transformed North West Province, a government that is efficient, transparent, and responsive to the needs of its people.”
Public Sector Upskilling and Strategic Execution
To successfully navigate this administrative evolution, the province is rolling out extensive training and capacity-building programs for civil servants. Given that compliance with the SmartGov Digital Government Platform is strictly mandatory for the 2026/27 financial year, public workers are undergoing targeted upskilling modules to transition efficiently away from manual processes.
Developed in direct coordination with leading private sector tech innovators, including Microsoft South Africa and Boxfusion, these comprehensive learning frameworks focus heavily on data protection, administrative workflow automation, and real-time operational auditing.
This deep upskilling initiative mitigates human error while ensuring that institutional workforces possess the analytical competencies necessary to navigate a modern, cloud-integrated public sphere.
Establishing the Advanced Data and AI Framework
The architectural apex of this modernized infrastructure centers on the introduction of highly secure data storage pipelines and integrated automation. The province is establishing a dedicated Artificial Intelligence (AI) Office to manage the systematic ethical deployment of advanced deep learning models and data analytics.
This specialized unit will safely leverage predictive datasets to optimize municipal resource planning, public security protocols, and financial oversight.
Operating under heavily upgraded, next-generation cybersecurity frameworks, this unified cloud environment ensures the absolute protection of institutional data and sensitive citizen metadata. By executing this unified strategy, the province effectively safeguards its operational continuity, creating a highly resilient public administration capable of anticipating and executing complex citizen requirements in real time
