David Furlonger
New board lacks marketing experience
State officials favoured over business people
Government has purged the board of the International Marketing Council of SA (IMC), the body responsible for developing SA’s international marketing and communications strategy.
Some of the most senior business people have been dropped in favour of government officials and others with little or no marketing experience. From being a broadly represented multiracial body, the 25-strong board now contains two white members.
Casualties also include businesswoman Wendy Luhabe and academic Barney Pityana, both linked to the opposition Cope political party. Luhabe chaired the IMC board until last week.
Among those who were kicked off are Naspers CEO Koos Bekker, Primedia Broadcasting CEO Terry Volkwyn, Business Leadership SA CEO Michael Spicer, McCarthy group CEO Brand Pretorius, Gordon Institute of Business Science director Nick Binedell, academic and businessman Roy Marcus, Cida college cofounder Taddy Blecher and former cabinet minister Roelf Meyer.
Not all previous board members were axed, though. Survivors include soccer World Cup local organising committee CEO Danny Jordaan and Sahara Holdings chairman Ajay Gupta. New names include Absa marketing & communications head Happy Ntshingila and businessman Sandile Zungu.
Former board members say they were contacted two weeks ago by minister in the presidency Collins Chabane and instructed to submit their resignations by the end of October.
According to one member, the decision is “beyond comprehension”. The people who have been fired have used their international contacts among business people and politicians to push a pro-SA message. “We aren’t paid for what we do. We have given up our time for years because we believe in SA. This decision is not in the country’s interests. Particularly with the World Cup next year, it will disrupt the Brand SA message.” He adds that it will also disrupt the IMC’s mandate to work with corporate SA. “Instead they will alienate it.”
Other newcomers are President Jacob Zuma’s spokesman, Zizi Kodwa, and businesswoman Brenda Madumise, who briefly attracted the interest of the Scorpions following the death of mining magnate Brett Kebble. There are also a number of regional representatives, among them Victoria Moloi, tourism head for the Fezile Dabi district municipality in the Free State; Neela Hoosain, former whip in the Eastern Cape legislature; and Vanessa Meruti, a Northern Cape gender equality commissioner.
“I can’t see the new board bringing the same skills and international networks to the table,” says a former board member.
Spicer agrees, but says: “Boards need to be refreshed from time to time. A few of us have been around for some time. After eight years, I’m quite happy to make way for new faces and ideas.”
But are they the right faces? Spicer says: “There could be questions about the new board’s knowledge and expertise. It’s a little light from the perspective of private-sector representatives with multinational marketing experience.”
Chabane says the board is required to serve for three years and that the previous board had been in place for more than four. “It has done good work and introduced SA to the world. It was however time to replace it and also to give other South Africans an opportunity to serve. The new board will build on the foundation already [laid]. The president and the minister wrote to thank them for their good work .”
He says there is no basis for the assumption that the new members lack experience and contacts. “All the new members were selected on the basis of their contribution to SA society.”
Regarding the board’s racial composition, Chabane says it will be “prudent to wait until the process [has been] concluded” before judging its representivity. He adds that IMC members’ political affiliation is irrelevant.
