New Head of Communications endorses relationship with media
While his parents used every spare cent they had just to send him to school, Dumisani tried to play his part and recalls looking after a tenant’s puppy for 18 cents per day.
Dr Dumisani Thabethe has never had any handouts in life.
He might be the current Head of Communications for Newcastle Municipality, but his journey to the top was arduous, unforgiving and forced him to fight every inch of the way.
His childhood in Nongoma was one of poverty and hardship.
While his parents used every spare cent they had just to send him to school, Dumisani tried to play his part and recalls looking after a tenant’s puppy for 18 cents per day.
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The paltry amount however made the world of difference to him.
“I think that man [Mr Mthethwa] wanted to help us without giving us the money. With the 18c I could buy bread. I met him many years later and thanked him because with that money I was able to eat breakfast and lunch. I’ll never forget what that man did for us,” he said appreciatively.
After matriculating, Dumisani found work in a Hillbrow butchery earning R5 per day. His small, skinny frame meant he struggled daily to move the carcasses around but it taught him the value of money.
He was later employed by a law firm in the Newcastle area, earning R120 a month as an interpreter, before accepting a post as an unqualified teacher at Xolani High School in oSizweni.
“I was employed by the principal, Mr Ngobese. He exposed me to things I never thought I could do,” he recalled.
Thereafter Dumisani enjoyed a fairly lengthy career in education. It was his many hours of studying and research in the field of water that eventually secured him a post as Customer Relations Manager for uThukela Water, a post he still holds some 14 years later.
Even though he has shifted from his position at uThukela Water to the Newcastle Municipality, Dumisani is still highly regarded among his peers and has even served as an Acting Strategic Executive Director for Community Services.
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He took up the post as Head of Communications in September this year. Dumisani admitted there has been no real Communications Unit to speak of but aims to change this.
“I have been tasked with looking into this and making it a functional unit which projects the municipality’s message, responds to media houses and initiates articles of its own.”
Dumisani said he is focused on building solid relationships between the municipality and its stakeholders, including the media. He prizes the value of balanced reporting to give a clearer picture from more than one side.
“The plan, as government has demanded, is for the Communications Unit to not just be a tool but to be involved and participative. We no longer look at this as just a department,” he asserted.
Since taking up office, Dumisani is pushing for the adoption of new strategies and policies to streamline his unit, while also brushing up on his already expansive scope of knowledge.
As the unit’s head, he must always be the first to know.
“This is a strategic position because I need to understand what goes in all departments and have that information on hand. I have to be on the ball,” he smiled.
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