[Johannesburg, South Africa, April, 22, 2021]: Brand South Africa has noted the media coverage on the state of affairs in the entity. This coverage has been generated by unauthorised access to confidential and internal documents which contain inaccuracies and misinformation about developments at the entity.

To this end, Brand South Africa wishes to state the facts as follows:

• Brand South Africa’s Annual Performance Plan for 2021/22 was approved by the Board of Trustees and submitted timeously to the Executive Authority;
• The Acting Minister signed the tabling letter, and the document has been referred to Parliament for tabling on 12 May 2021;
• We are operating within an approved 5 year strategic plan 2020/21- 2024/25 (as approved by the Executive Authority and Parliament);
• As such, we have the responsibility to deliver and implement the approved strategic plan on an annual basis as per relevant prescripts. Therefore, there are no operational or budgetary issues;
• The vacant Executive Committee positions in the organisation are as a result of a moratorium put in place through a cabinet resolution to rationalise SOEs;
• Acting executive roles, including Acting CMO, have been rotated amongst various senior managers since the moratorium was imposed, and this measure has ensured that the entity functions as it should.
• Dr Petrus de Kock’s resignation as Acting Chief Marketing Officer after 14 days in the role, is unfortunate but doesn’t create a crisis as alleged or claimed.

As a responsible entity, we will not be drawn into discussions on ongoing internal matters with the media. We reiterate that the organisation has numerous management and governance structures supported by legally approved processes that address any issues that the organisation may be facing at any given point in time.

It would be premature and irresponsible of us as an organisation to be commenting on ongoing unresolved legal matters within the organisation in the media.

We would also like to reinforce that we are governed by the strict laws, policies and regulations of the land to do the right thing regardless of whether it is popular or not. We act according to the prescribed code of ethics and we take our responsibilities and accountabilities seriously.

To conclude we wish to state that contrary to a narrative that has sought to portray the entity as one that is beleaguered or in chaos, where operations have ground to a halt, Brand South Africa continues to be an award-winning agency with senior management and staff that are committed to their role as custodians of the Nation Brand, supported by a highly competent Board of Trustees.

In quarter 4 of the 2020/21 fiscal, despite the severe constraints imposed on us as a result of COVID-19, budget cuts, and a moratorium on the filling of vacancies, we achieved 92% of our targets. We have been agile in our response, and have found new and creative ways of ensuring that the mandate we are tasked with, namely to promote the Nation Brand, continues. These include:

• the successful hosting of an online Mining Investment Forum which engaged South African companies and potential international investors on the South African mining industry;
• and a proactive campaign to demystify misconceptions regarding the 501Y.V2 variant of Covid-19 to protect the country’s reputation in the domestic and international markets.

For the upcoming quarter, this status quo of productivity and performance is set to continue, with plans in place to drive both domestic and international programmes that contribute towards the promotion of a positive image of the Nation Brand.

Ends/////

Issued by Brand South Africa’s Board of Trustees

For more information contact Thoko Modise:

ThokoM@brandsouthafrica.com

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