Question NW1510 to the Minister of Transport
05 June 2017 - NW1510
Motau, Mr SC to ask the Minister of Transport
1. Whether (a) his Department and (b) each entity reporting to him procured any services from and/or made any payments to (i) Bell Pottinger or (ii) any other public relations firm; if not, in each case, why not, if so, what (aa) services were procured, (bb) was the total cost, (cc) is the detailed breakdown of such costs, (dd) was the total amount paid, (ee) was the purpose of the payment and (ff) is the detailed breakdown of such payments in each case.
Reply:
Department
Department did not procure any services or made any payments to (i) the certain company (name furnished) or (ii) any other public relations firms. The reason is because the department did not have a need to obtain the services of a public relations firm.
(aa) Not applicable
(bb) Not applicable
(cc) Not applicable
(dd) Not applicable
(ee) Not applicable
(ff) Not applicable
Airports Company South Africa SOC Limited (ACSA)
Airports Company South Africa has not procured any services from the company whose name was furnished. Airports Company South Africa utilises the services of FTI Consulting for its public relations.
Air Traffic Navigation and Services (ATNS)
- According to ATNS records, no services where procured or payments made to Bell Pottinger
- No service or payments were made to any public relations firms. There has not been any reason to procure services or make payments to public relations firms
(aa) Not applicable
(bb) Not applicable
(cc) Not applicable
(dd) Not applicable
(ee) Not applicable
(ff) Not applicable
South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA)
(a) N/A (b)(i)(ii)(aa)(bb)(cc)(dd)(ee)(ff)The South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) procured services from and made payments to a public relations agency called PR Powerhouse. The agency was hired to provide the SACAA with a variety of marketing communications aimed at creating awareness about the organisation, its mandate, and services offered to the public. Examples of outputs include drafting of media statements, setting up media interviews, and related public relations activities. The contract agreement was for a period of six months, ending 31 March 2016. During the contract period, the agency was paid a monthly retainer fee of R54 150, 00 (fifty-four thousand one hundred and fifty rand); amounting to R324 900, 00 (three hundred and twenty-four thousand nine hundred rand). NW1652E
(b) Cross-Border Road Transport Agency (CBRT) has not procured services from nor has it made any payments to (i) Bell Pottinger nor (ii) has it engaged any other public relations firm. The Agency has not established the need to do so.
(aa) – (ff) Not applicable
(b) Road Accident Fund (RAF) did not procure any services from and/or make any payments to (i) Bell Pottinger, but (ii) did procure services from The Brand Leadership Group (Pty) Ltd (“Brand Leadership”), a brand strategy, brand valuation and intellectual property management company, to (aa) provide the RAF with communications, media and public relations services, (bb) at a total contracted cost of R3 102 624, including VAT, over the three year period commencing on 13 January 2014, (cc) the detailed breakdown of such cost is:
Description |
Total Cost |
Management fee |
R2 721 600 |
Percentage of markup fee for events |
Billing principles and terms and conditions |
Addition cost |
Billing principles and terms and conditions |
Total |
R2 721 600 |
Total VAT |
R381 024 |
Total VAT inclusive |
R3 102 624 |
, (dd) of which R 2 879 044.31 has been paid to date, (ee) the purpose of the payment was to compensate Brand Leadership for the contracted services rendered to the RAF, (ff) the detailed breakdown of the payments are set out below:
Date of Payment |
Amount |
Particulars: |
07 April 2014 |
R7,524.00 |
Advertisement |
09 May 2014 |
R13 167.00 |
Brand Management |
11 June 2014 |
R86 184.00 |
Retainer |
19 June 2014 |
R86 184.00 |
Retainer |
04 September 2014 |
R86 184.00 |
Retainer |
05 November 2014 |
R86 184.00 |
Retainer |
12 November 2014 |
R86 184.00 |
Retainer |
26 February 2015 |
R86 184.00 |
Retainer |
13 March 2015 |
R86 184.00 |
Retainer |
17 April 2015 |
R86 184.00 |
Retainer |
30 April 2015 |
R86 184.00 |
Retainer |
11 June 2015 |
R86 184.00 |
Retainer |
01 July 2015 |
R86 184.00 |
Retainer |
08 September 2015 |
R86 184.00 |
Retainer |
11 September 2015 |
R96 159.00 |
Retainer of R86 184.00 and R9 975.00 for design and artwork |
18 November 2015 |
R99 581.81 |
Retainer of R86 184.00 and R13 397.81 for road show |
20 January 2016 |
R105 606.75 |
Retainer of R86 184.00 and design and layout R11 172.75 |
20 April 2016 |
R114 114.00 |
Retainer of R86 184.00, R16 758.00 and R11 172.00 for branding. |
22 April 2016 |
R135 560.25 |
Retainer of R86 184.00 and design and placement of advert R49 376.25 |
25 April 2016 |
R172 368.00 |
2 X Retainer of R86 184.00 |
18 May 2016 |
R172 368.00 |
2 X Retainer of R86 184.00 |
20 June 2016 |
R172 368.00 |
2 X Retainer of R86 184.00 |
14 September 2016 |
R172 368.00 |
2 X Retainer of R86 184.00 |
19 September 2016 |
R182 286.00 |
Retainer of R86 184.00, advertorial for R87 210.00 and R8892.00 for design and layout for an advert. |
19 January 2017 |
R401 365.50 |
4 X Retainer of R86 184.00, campaign of R53 437.50 and R3 192.00 for design. |
Total |
R2 879 044.31 |
(b) Road Traffic Management Corporations (RTMC) has not procured services from nor has it made any payments to (i) Bell Pottinger nor (ii) has it engaged any other public relations firm. The Agency has not established the need to do so.
(aa) – (ff) Not applicable
(b) Road Traffic Infringement Agency (RTI) has not procured services from nor has it made any payments to (i) Bell Pottinger nor (ii) has it engaged any other public relations firm. The Agency has not established the need to do so.
(aa) – (ff) Not applicable
(b) South African Road Agency Limited (SANRAL) has not procured services from nor has it made any payments to (i) Bell Pottinger nor (ii) has it engaged any other public relations firm. The Agency has not established the need to do so.
(aa) – (ff) Not applicable
South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA)
The South African Maritime Authority (SAMSA) has never done any business nor procured any goods or services from Bell Pottinger or any other public relations firm.
The Authority has its own internal Corporate Affairs department which, among other things, is responsible for stakeholder management and communication.
Ports Regulator of South Africa (PRSA)
(b) The Ports Regulator did not procure any services from and/or made any payments to (i) Bell Pottinger or (ii) any other public relations firm. The reason for not using such services is because the activities of the Ports Regulator so far have not necessitated the use of a public relations firm.
National Railway Safety Regulator (NRSR)
(b)(i) The RSR has not procured any services from and/or made any payments to the company in question, Bell Pottinger.
(b)(ii) The RSR utilised the public relations services of Media Equity South Africa
(aa) The services procured related to the provision of reputation management services for the Regulator
(bb) The total cost of the services is contracted for an amount of R295 000.
(cc) Breakdown for cost relate to the assisting the Regulator to strengthen its relationship with the media and increase awareness of its newsworthy initiatives:
(dd) The Regulator has paid Media Equity SA R95 000 to date.
(ee) For services rendered as per the contract awarded to date
(ff) Detailed breakdown:
- Facilitation of the State of Safety report Launch – R35 000
- Interviews with senior management and staff
- Desktop research and social media analysis
- Securing participation from media houses and ongoing relationship building - R60 000
Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA)
(b) (i) PRASA has never procured services from Bell Pottinger
(ii) No other PR Agency has been used by PRASA
(aa) there was no requirement for those services
(bb) Not applicable
(cc) Not applicable
(dd) Not applicable
(ee) Not applicable
(ff) Not applicable