Brand SA (BSA) chair Thandi Tobias says government messaging about SA respecting the rule of law and being open for business is being undermined by a lack of action against crime and corruption and too few prosecutions.
“Messaging can make or break a country. It is central to brand image and directly related to investment, economic growth and social cohesion,” she says. “But messaging goes with action. Real action.”
It is good that the government is beginning to understand the importance of messaging, and important to acknowledge the country's weaknesses as the president has been doing, she says.
“But it must also provide solutions, and long-term solutions, to challenges. We can't just put out a positive message without taking positive action.”
International feedback from platforms such as the Dubai expo, BSA's global business forum and council and its missions in the UK, China and US, is that more people are perceiving SA as an investment destination, she says.
This follows the lifting of the threshold for energy self-generation to 100MW, and other important signs of movement.
“The messaging is that government is moving on self-generation and enabling independent energy generators to put their energy in the national grid.
“It's that government has given provinces and municipalities the opportunity to generate energy”, and that it is moving at last to free up spectrum.
“We've been able to tell the international community that President Cyril Ramaphosa has appointed people to the presidency, who will answer directly to him, to facilitate public private partnerships and cut red tape.”
The messaging that business is being enabled is “good”, says Tobias.
But along with the positive feedback there has been very negative feedback.
“Investors are asking a lot of hard questions about crime, the July 2021 unrest and the lack of prosecutions.
“We need to see far more action in prosecutions.
“The NPA [National Prosecuting Authority] has been moving very slowly to secure prosecutions.”
It is very important that the government insists on the NPA delivering on its mandate and that it gives it all the resources it can to do so, she says.
“One of our biggest challenges is for us to explain why there haven't been more prosecutions.”
It makes BSA's job of image building extremely difficult.
“There's an umbilical link between brand image and investment. Investors look for stability, a country with a good record in acting against crime.”
There can't be a good investment environment in a country that is not seen to be acting against crime.
“We need to be seen to be stable and safe, that we are tourist- and investor-friendly.
Politicians need to understand that what they do, not just what they say, has a direct impact on the image of the country
— Brand SA chair Thandi Tobias
“Investors want to know their investments will be secure. This means also dealing with corruption. They look at how corruption-free a country is.”
Here the messaging from the ANC is confusing at best, she says.
A year ago there was a clear conference resolution that every office bearer in the party facing criminal charges must step aside.
At the time Tobias said this would demonstrate how committed the government was to fighting corruption.
“The message of the step-aside rule was that in South Africa everyone is subjected to the rule of law.”
But that has been undermined by the election of Zandile Gumede as the ANC's chair in eThekwini while facing criminal charges of fraud and corruption.
“Brand image must be front and centre of everything our politicians do and say. Messaging is a crucial part of this, but it must be based on action and delivery.
“They need to understand that what they do, not just what they say, has a direct impact on the image of the country.”
There are signs that the government is beginning to take the issue of brand image more seriously, she says.
“The president seems to be the one who is understanding it better. We still need others to understand it.”
BSA has started a forum for directors-general to get this message across to them, and is about to start one for ministers so that it can make presentations at cabinet level.
“We will be looking at what they do, at their actions, very closely. Understanding the importance of messaging and brand image is good, but they need to act.”
A meeting of the Brand SA board this week resolved to engage directly with the cabinet on how important it is for the country's brand image to combine messaging with implementation, and how central image is to attracting investors and tourists, growing the economy and creating jobs.
Tobias says the successes of Ramaphosa's investment conferences have portrayed SA in a “better light” for the investment community, “so there is a level of positivity. But we still need to pull up our socks.”
Ministers still need to understand the importance of not saying things that put the country's brand “at risk or in jeopardy”.
They still need to understand the importance of policy consistency so as “not to project the country in a confusing manner to investors”.
“And their policies must be consistent with the message that SA is open to business.”
It's difficult to persuade investors that a country is open for business when crime and corruption are rampant.
“Action on crime-busting and corruption must support this messaging. And getting prosecutions. We need to act on high-profile cases and bring them to prosecution.”
Tobias has some political clout, which has enabled her to be more forthright in her criticisms of the government than her predecessors were.
She was an ANC MP for 15 years, during which time she served as whip of the finance committee and senior member of the standing committee on public accounts (Scopa) before being appointed to lead Brand SA in late 2019.
It was in a mess and entirely ineffectual, but she says they're bringing in the right people with the right expertise and the right attitudes.
“I'm partly happy that we're getting there. We've started to stabilise the organisation and advertise for a permanent CEO and chief marketing officer. A CFO will start in June, a new researcher has started work.
“So we have moved. Not at the speed we would have wanted to, but it's showing good results.”
A budget of just R210m is not helping, she says.
She hopes a long-overdue amalgamation with SA Tourism and Invest SA will cut costs and help them make more of an impact.
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