Pretoria - The International Marketing Council of South
Africa, whose aim is to promote the country locally and abroad, will change its
name to Brand SA.
The announcement in Pretoria followed a lengthy meeting
between President Jacob Zuma and the IMC board in Pretoria on Tuesday.
According to a statement released by the presidency, the
name change, which will have to be approved by the cabinet, will also assist in
"eliminating the confusion with the many inter-ministerial committees
(IMCs) in government".
The IMC was established in 2002 with the main aim of
marketing SA abroad. The IMC board also requested that its mandate be changed
to allow it to also target South Africans.
"This will assist to change the trend of continuous
negative messaging about the country. Currently the primary focus has been the
external market. It was agreed that citizens should also be a key target so
that they become brand ambassadors.
"The council proposed the appointment of volunteer brand patrons -eminent businesspersons, some of the recipients of the national orders as well as eminent foreign nations from around the world who are friends
of South Africa. They would serve as ambassadors of the country
worldwide."
New IMC board members were also appointed while Zuma bade
farewell to some board members, including soccer legend Lucas Radebe who
"resgned due to work commitments".
The Johannesburg Stock Exchange's executive director for
government and international affairs, Geoff Rothschild, and the National Nuclear
Regulator's chief financial officer Ramasela Moloto were among those appointed.
"We thank all outgoing members of the board for serving our country so well. We wish the new members well in their new tasks. We are confident that they will serve South Africa well," said Zuma.