Question NW2767 to the Minister of Communications
18 December 2020 - NW2767
van der Merwe, Ms LL to ask the Minister of Communications
(1)Which public relations (PR) company has been hired to clean up the image of the SA Broadcasting Corporation (SABC); (2)(a) what is the total monetary value of the specified contract and (b) why was it deemed necessary to hire a PR company to do work for the SABC considering that the SABC does have an internal PR component and personnel; (3) Whether proper procurement processes were followed to appoint the specified PR company; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
Reply:
I have been advised by the SABC as follows:
(1) PR WORX
(2)(a) R2,3 million including VAT
(2)(b) To further add to the SABC’s turnaround strategy, addressing and better managing its reputation and corporate image is a priority for the broadcaster. The SABC therefore sought a suitably qualified and competent firm as the reputation management; corporate image building; and market research services that the SABC required, were not available from an internal skillset and resource perspective.
(3) Proper procurement processes were duly followed to appoint the PR company. The SABC went on an open and competitive tender via the SABC website and E-tender portal. A compulsory briefing session took place with all interested agencies on 20 February 2020. The tender closed on 4 March 2020. The evaluation process commenced on 10 March 2020. All due diligence was performed and only when the SABC was satisfied that it had found a suitable service provider that understood the scope of work, and possessed the necessary experience to effectively execute the stipulated reputation mandate, was the contract awarded on 29 June 2020. The SABC then entered into an agreement with PR Worx as the agency of choice on 2 July 2020 for a 12-month period.
MS. STELLA NDABENI-ABRAHAMS, MP
MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS AND DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES