Communications Minister Ayanda Dlodlo praised Brand South Africa as one of the best performing entities in the government during the organisation’s annual report presentation to the Portfolio Committee on Communications.
CD Anderson
Brand South Africa presented its 2016/17 annual report to members of the Portfolio Committee on Communications on Wednesday, 11 October 2017. Brand South Africa chairperson Khanyisile Kweyama said the organisation had confidently met its mandate to present the country’s reputation and nation-brand to the people of South Africa, as well as the world.
The committee praised Brand South Africa’s clean financial audit – its second consecutive clean audit – and said the organisation was one of the best performing government entities.
Despite some strong challenges, both at home and around the globe, the South African nation brand was still very strong. “We believe, and the record shows, that Brand South Africa has done well in terms of meeting its mandate of managing the reputation, communicating the brand as well as marketing the brand,” Kweyama said in the presentation, listing highlights of the organisation’s achievements during 2016 and 2017. These included:
Brand South Africa was a winner in the 39th Annual Loerie Awards for its Arrive Alive radio campaign called After Tears, winning the awards’ Radio Crafts – South African non-English performance category.
Brand South Africa’s successful integrated promotion campaign for constitutional awareness that included elements across electronic media, web and outdoor media was also hailed as a highlight for the year.
The hugely popular Play Your Part campaign, aimed at building national spirit through inspiring South Africans from all walks of life to contribute positive change to the country, was another successful campaign that highlighted many individual South Africans working in small ways to build the country’s reputation as well as help solve economic challenges, such as unemployment.
A successful positioning of South Africa as a globally competitive brand during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, was another highlight of the year.
Speaking after the Portfolio Committee Meeting, Dlodlo praised Brand South Africa as one of the best performing entities in the government, adding that she was proud to be associated with the organisation.
“Year in and year out they have been able to get unqualified audit reports, but also the quality of their work, the quality of their reporting is also very good,” the minister said. “They keep us informed of international trends of how people perceive and view the nation’s brand and it is an entity that is more informative than anything with respect to the brand itself.”
Brand South Africa CEO Dr Kingsley Makhubela thanked the minister for her praise, saying the organisation was grateful for the support received from the department. “We always receive support from the Portfolio Committee and that is why we are able to [navigate] through some of the challenges during the year,” he said.
Source: South African Government News Service
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