The Proudly South African campaign has dismissed media reports it has been ”disowned” by the government and the Department of Trade and Industry.
The seed funding provided for the campaign’s founding period was suspended in 2004, it said in a statement on Friday. There had been no instantaneous or recent termination of support, as might have been implied by the headings of some recent media reports, it added.
”Proudly SA enjoys a good working relationship with the department, which is represented on the Proudly South African board. Government is one of the four key stakeholder groups/partners of Proudly South African — the others being organised labour, organised business, and community organisations.”
Proudly South African said it made a request last year to update the government on the campaign’s future strategy and progress, and to rekindle its relationship with the government as a stakeholder.
Its briefing to the parliamentary trade and industry portfolio committee earlier this week was based on this request.
The briefing was well received by the committee, which specifically requested that it should become a regular occurrence, as Proudly South African is regarded as a necessary programme in the country.
All political parties concurred with the proposal that Proudly South African should assist in checking the validity of claims of local manufacture and content.
Member companies were briefed on the rationale behind the briefing. Proudly South African CEO Manana Moroka said she is confident they understood the context of the briefing and viewed the initiative as part of an ongoing process to serve their interests.
”Many members, including key sponsors such as WesBank, have again pledged their full support to the campaign, for which I would like to thank them,” she said. — Sapa