Brand-South Africa - Annual report 2015 - 2016

and south africa Annual Report 2015/2016
position improved by one position to 52 out of 148 economies;
with improvements recorded in the country’s economic
performance and infrastructure. South Africa’s sound financial
sector and its well-established corporate governance track
record remain key competitive offerings to the world; however,
the country dropped in position on business efficiency and
government efficiency, which is a cause for some concern as
we position the country as an investment destination.
One of South Africa’s significant strengths is its infrastructure,
which also records significant improvements in the World
Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Index, as well as
the 2015 Ibrahim Index of African Governance Report. This
bodes well for our economic growth and development since
good infrastructure is attractive to investors and ensures the
ease of doing business.
South Africa remains a strong performer in the Ibrahim Index
of African Governance Report, maintaining its fourth position
ranking out of the 54 African countries this year and improved
in eight of the sub-indicators.
Organisational performance
Brand South Africa successfully delivered against the key
areas of our business plan despite some challenges. Our
efforts to reorganise and improve our ability to deliver on
our mandate are making steady progress with the approval
of our new organisational structure, which increases our
staff complement to 51 employees. We ended the year at a
vacancy rate of 4%, a situation that will allow us to expedite
our mandate and reduce the heavy workload on existing staff.
Training during the past year focused on skills development
across all functions to improve staff competencies, together
with the awarding of eight new bursaries to our employees for
further study programmes.
In addition, the successful migration of all the performance
contracts onto the electronic platform, Smart HR, has resulted
in a paperless function, and will reduce administrative processes
over time.
Employees continued to participate in informal teambuilding
events, through our Employee Values Programme as well as
our Employee Benefits Loyalty Awards Programme, to foster
greater collaboration across functions. These programmes are
designed to ensure that Brand South Africa remains on track
as a sustainable organisation, with a team that is dedicated
and committed.
The future
Going forward, Brand South Africa will continue to position
South Africa as a globaly competitive destination of choice,
which is critical to contributing to the country’s developmental
agenda that requires economic growth and development, social
cohesion and job creation.
As an organisation, we will strive to strengthen and deepen our
stakeholder and partner alignment and integration through the
implementation of various brand and reputation management
strategies. The success of our efforts lies in our ability to work with
a variety of stakeholders both locally and internationally to improve
the awareness and brand image of the country in key markets.
Internationally, our focus will remain on strategic partnerships
and collaborations with key stakeholders to improve perceptions
and build a strong brand image. Work will be intensified in
extending the reach and involvement of GSAs through our
GSA programme to develop a critical mass that promotes our
country message.
In South Africa, our efforts will focus on strengthening our PYP
programme, through our various programmes as well as PYP
ambassadors, to encourage active citizenship and to continue
making a difference in the country.
By working with a variety of stakeholders we will continue to tell
the story of our Nation Brand and instil pride and patriotism
among South Africans. The new Brand South Africa corporate
identity toolkit and the Nation Brand Alignment Training are the
strategic training tools that will progress our efforts on brand
alignment and country messaging with stakeholders.
Thanks and appreciation
During the past year, we successfully delivered on our
mandate of positioning South Africa as a globally competitive
destination. This was achieved through the support of a
number of stakeholders with whom we partnered, to ensure
greater co-ordination and unlock synergies; our dedicated
and committed Brand South Africa team, as well as the many
South Africans, both locally and abroad, who continue to fly
the South African flag as a proud nation. A special word of
thanks to outgoing Chairperson, Ms Chichi Maponya, for her
guidance and valuable input during her term.
I am confident of the strong foundations that have been laid to
deliver on the mandate of our organisation, by our competent
staff as well as my predecessor, Mr Miller Matola, and acting
CEO, Ms Alice Puoane, and know that the building blocks are
in place to build a strong and cohesive Nation Brand. Let us
always strive to strengthen the ties that bind us within our
country, our continent and the global context.
Ambassador Kingsley Makhubela, PhD
Chief Executive Officer
Brand South Africa
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