Vol 38, No 1 (2019)

It is often assumed that a sense of interconnectedness with others and a common identity, such
as that associated with the idea of “rainbowism”, can only be achieved after a host of social
injustices, inequities and other material problems have somehow been addressed. Related to this,
Western social theory proposes that addressing these problems requires mobilising op/positional
identities that can free individuals from their constraints. Yet if we are to suppose that identity
shapes our very interests, then the converse might be true. Social injustices, inequities and other
material problems may only be resolved once a sense of relatedness and interconnectivity with
the community at large is established. In this article I show how the African moral theory of ubuntu
can help us achieve this by contributing to understandings of identity and agency that work in
concert with systems and structures and towards shared ends. Hence, while theorists largely
focus on the potential of identity to confront wanting social realities and to create freedom from
constraint, I suggest that through ubuntu, identity can be reimagined as mutualistic and symbiotic
with social organisation – enabling, as a result, more equity and justice. Critical of false and
misappropriated manifestations of unity, my article contributes to a novel understanding of the
relationship between identity and agency towards reimagined notions of rainbowism.

A group of Zimbabwean bloggers formed a voluntary association (the Zimbabwe Online Content
Creators-ZOCC) aimed at protecting the credibility of their online content against fake news
by producing factual content. Like the media elsewhere in the world, Zimbabwean media have
been influenced by the phenomenon of “post-truth”, a term relating to the rise of an era in which
emotions rather than facts seem to sway public opinion, and where populism overshadows basic
principles of reason and veracity. Qualitative interviews with members of this Association sought to
understand the value of membership of this group in reducing the circulation of disinformation and
misleading content. Firstly, results show that to some extent the Association inculcated a sense of
identity and belonging which bind members’ commitment to the group’s core values such as being
balanced, independent, truthful, accurate and responsible. Mainstream media organisations,
bloggers, vloggers and animators can use the power of their professional identity to coalesce
as a buffer against fake news. However, this study noted that as the group is voluntary-based, it
lacks authority and disciplinary power to enforce compliance with group norms, thereby running
the risk that some members can violate the same values with impunity. Secondly, in Zimbabwe,
there are strong relationships between the type of falsified and misleading news and the sociopolitical
and economic context. Information might be published for its “feel good” effect (at the
expense of its credibility and accuracy) in a context where democracy and economic prosperity
are illusory to many.

Impression management is the study of how individuals present themselves to be perceived
favourably. Using agency theory, this article investigates impression management practices,
influenced by the company’s underlying performance, that may be present in the chairman’s
statements in annual or integrated reports of Johannesburg Stock Exchange listed companies in
South Africa. This research uses content analysis and specifically focuses on the identification
and measurement of three pre-determined textual characteristics referenced in these chairman’s
statements. There is reasonable evidence to suggest that management employs impression
management strategies that are dependent on the level of a company’s performance. In addition,
while variability in readability was not found to be a strategy used to manage impressions, the
overall readability of the chairman’s report was found to be relatively difficult and this, in turn,
may affect the ability of stakeholders to benefit from the information it contains. This study is
limited to the analysis of a single section of narrative reporting (the chairman’s statement) and, as
such, does not consider any impression management practices that may be present in the rest
of the annual or integrated report as well as in other communications between stakeholders and
the company in question. It is anticipated that the results will be of importance to professional
accountancy bodies, users and preparers considering the negative perception of the accounting
profession owing to recent scandals. This is also one of the first studies to explore the use of
impression management practices in South Africa and the linguistic variation employed in
management commentary within a South African context, thereby contributing to the readability
of the chairman’s statements.

The South African Municipal Systems Act (2000) directs South Africa’s municipalities to ensure
that it uses IDP processes as a form of public participation in its affairs. This qualitative study was
conducted in Jouberton Township in the Matlosana local municipality, North West Province, to
assess the extent to which participatory communication takes place in municipal IDP processes.
Using participant observation, semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions, the
study found that community members were passive participators in municipal IDP processes in
which their involvement was limited to being informed about what would happen or had already
happened. Dialogue was facilitated through a top-down modernisation-based approach, and
no evidence emerged of community empowerment in decision making regarding development
projects. The findings suggest a need for the application of bottom-up participatory communication
and “empowered” participation during municipal IDP processes. They also suggest a need for
further research on how “participation as an end” can be theorised in line with participatory
communication in a complex municipal system that already requires “participation as a means”
to achieve certain goals.

The focus of this article is to discuss new media choices and use of selected South African
languages on social media by youth residing in Limpopo Province, South Africa. The use of
language on social media facilitates communication between communicators and use of one’s
cultural language can ensure that this communication is better. This paper summarises a study of
youth in Limpopo Province. The purpose of the study was to explore and describe languages used
by youth on social media and identify reasons for the communication engaged in. The research
methodology used to collect and analyse data was a combination of qualitative and quantitative
approaches. For the quantitative part of the research, a survey and online observation were used
for data collection and statistical methods and semiotic analysis used to analyse data. For the
qualitative aspects of the study, personal interviews and focus groups were employed for data
collection and thematic analysis used to analyse data. The findings indicated that the majority
of the youth do not prefer to use their African mother tongue languages to communicate on
Twitter and Facebook but chat in the English language on those forums. However, the young
people prefer to use their African languages when communicating to others on the WhatsApp
social media platform. Reasons for these choices are stated. The discussion contributes to the
academic debate on the role of language in decolonising higher education, and to debates about
promoting the use of African languages.

The spurious and unethical actions of the renowned global public relations (PR) firm Bell Pottinger in early 2017 cast a dark cloud over the PR industry in general. Aside from the economic and sociopolitical ramifications that emerged in the wake of this scandal, it has tainted the moral standing of all public relations professionals, including those in South Africa. There is little doubt that tactics such as offering to manipulate a client’s online reputation through the use of fake online accounts, newly created blog pages or fake online reviews are unethical, and take the industry back to a less glorious time in its history at a point when much emphasis is being placed on both ethics and values-based practice globally. Moral philosophy provides a basis for rationalising human motivation in decision making and action. However, it can be argued that there is potentially a mismatch between theories and moral frameworks created for individualistic cultures, and their application within communal cultures. Building social capital in any society begins with a commitment to support the collective interests of the community. Thus, any discussion of the
value of ethical communication practice for society must begin with a concern for the nature and integrity of community. Against this background this article utilises the Bell Pottinger case study to examine the tensions that arise between individual values and communal PR practice, and to explore the moral implications of ethical PR practice in a communal context such as South Africa.

Literacy is critical to achieving the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals but
many countries have not achieved globally desirable literacy levels. In this paper I describe a
collaborative strategy that the South African Institute for Distance Education (SAIDE) adopted
to implement the African Storybook (ASb) in sub-Saharan Africa in response to the shortage
of multilingual literacy resources. The paper focuses on Kenya, drawing on my experience as
the ASb Partner Development Coordinator and from ASb partner reports. One of the findings
is that nationwide literacy programmes may not meet specific literacy needs of children from
hard-to-reach communities. Other innovative and unique initiatives need to intervene through
a collaborative bottom-up approach. I conclude with some lessons learned, achievements and
challenges.

Due to the rapid advancement of new technologies in business, marketers’ dependency on usergenerated
content (UGC) is rising. This study therefore seeks to elucidate the importance of usergenerated
content in creating sales and establishing relationships with customers. Convenience
non-probability sampling was adopted in selecting 330 participants. In addition, structural
equation modelling was used in testing proposed hypotheses. Findings reveal that there is a
positive relationship between the use of UGC, brand trust and purchase intention. However, it
is observed that subjective norms, information quality and source credibility affect the use of
UGC for decision making. The main recommendation is that it is imperative for marketers to be
cognisant of their online audience and engage with customers online. Overall, this study will aid
marketers in the comprehension of the factors associated with brand trust and purchase intention
in relation to UGC advertising.