First signs of PR in South Africa

The author of Chapter 14 titled as Public Relations in South Africa: From Rhetoric to Reality from The Global Public Relations Handbook, Ronel Rensburg has said that the field of PR in South Africa can be characterized by search for identity, legitimacy and professional recognition, and its role is shaped by the dynamics of an ever-changing and developing society.

It was interesting to read that public relations in Africa also go back back decades, if not centuries. Parallel between the task of PR practitioner and that of a spokesman at the chief's seat of power in traditional South African villages has been drawn. It is claimed that no African chief or elder statesman spoke directly to a visitor. All communication was channeled through a spokesman who assumed eminent position in the society and was highly respected by the people. And this is still the case in some remote and traditional rural areas of South Africa!

The author also brings an example of African marital affairs, such as arranged marriages and lobola (bride price), to illustrate the concept of early PR activities in Africa. From the beginning to the sealing of marriage contact, the go-between or the middle man plays a crucial role in the success of the union.

Rensburg claims that public relations are also expressed in the use of traditional music, dancing, and beating drums to communicate to the inhabitants of the traditional African village. All in all, the concept of PR is neither alien nor a practice that arrived with colonialism, commercialization, or Western media imperialism - it has been around on the African continent in a different format for centuries.

Tool of Public Relations

Photo taken from here