The Democratic Alliance (DA) wants Public Relations Company Bell Pottinger to make a full disclosure on it’s the contracts with the Gupta family.
This comes after the British based PR Company was found guilty by the U.K’s Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA) for breaching its code over work done for the Guptas.
The DA had complained to the Association about Bell Pottinger’s campaign that allegedly fanned racial tensions in South Africa. The PRCA didn’t specify which clause Bell Pottinger may have contravened.
The UK public relations industry body is expected to release a written ruling which will give details on the violation in the first week of September.
The DA’s Phumzile Van Damme says the company must come clean.
“We call on the PRCA to make sure that a strong sanction is handed down against Bell Pottinger – so as the massage is send to PR agencies that they cannot engage in unethical conduct. We also call on Bell Pottinger to make sure they pay back all the money earned from the Gupta account.”
The British-based PR company was hired by the Guptas amid allegations that the family may have played a role in some Cabinet appointments in South Africa, such as Minister of Mineral Resources, Mosebenzi Zwane, and Minister of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Des van Rooyen.
It’s alleged that the brief by the Guptas to Bell Pottinger included campaigns aimed at highlighting white dominance in the local economy 25 years after the end of apartheid.
Brand specialist, Solly Moeng, believes that this was not an ordinary brief.
The controversy surrounding Bell Pottinger has already cost the PR Company some of the clients including Investec and Brand SA.
[Source: SABC News]