The Acting Minister in the Presidency Ms Khumbudzo Ntshavheni has noted media reports regarding the state of affairs at Brand South Africa, an entity reporting to the Presidency through the Government Communication and Information System (GCIS).
As government, one of the priorities of the 6th Administration has been to create synergies in a number of entities that perform similar mandates. BrandSA together with other entities operating in the international space have been identified as entities that need to be aligned. To this effect, the work commenced during the tenure of the late Minister in the Presidency, Mr Jackson Mthembu. Unfortunately this work could not be concluded as speedily as we would have expected. Refocusing the strategic direction of BrandSA remains part of this work.
The challenges that have been faced by BrandSA over the years is something the Acting Minister is acutely aware of, hence she remains committed to work as fast as she can in ensuring BrandSA is aligned and delivers on its mandate of marketing South Africa as a nation brand.
The Minister has met with the board and gave feedback of how far the process is and what needs to be done particularly on strategic direction. It was against this background that the 2021 Annual Performance Plan (APP) was expected to transition the work of BrandSA.
The Acting Minister initially returned the APP for revision as both its targets and strategic focus did not address the mandate of BrandSA of repositioning the brand of South Africa both locally and internationally. The Minister also guided the board on the work to be conducted towards the revision of the APP.
Accordingly, an extension for the tabling of the APP was requested from Parliament to allow the board to rework the APP. The reworked APP, though not entirely satisfactory, was tabled to Parliament with the proviso that GCIS as the shareholder representative will work with the management of BrandSA to develop a programme for BrandSA which will be used to revise the APP that will be submitted to both the board and the Minister for re-tabling in line with applicable legislation.
On matters relating to the position of the Chief Executive Officer, the Acting Minister could not secure the concurrence of the Minister for Public Service and Administration for the extension of the secondment of the former Acting CEO. The former Acting CEO had acted in the position for a period exceeding 24 months which is against the provisions of the labour laws of the Republic.
In addition, the Acting Minister declined to concur to the appointment of a board member as an Acting CEO as board members not appointed to be managers but rather to oversee the strategic direction of the entity. The board was advised to choose from the pool of general managers within BrandSA with an option that the board must advise the Acting Minister if they are not satisfied with the performance of all the general managers within the entity.
Furthermore, the Board of Trustees of BrandSA have been requested to present a plan that the Acting Minister will consider to review the moratorium on filling of executive positions that was placed by the late Minister Mthembu.
This work will be directly linked to the realignment process of BrandSA and other entities with a similar mandate.
Media enquiries:
Nonceba Mhlauli
Ministry Spokesperson
Cell: 072 623 3462
Issued by
More from
More on
