Bell Pottinger: More than R20 million must be returned to South Africa to promote racial trust and to assist in building bridges between communities
5 September 2017
It is with disbelief that we took note of the underhanded work by the Bell Pottinger firm in London which contributed to unprecedented racial polarisation in South Africa. A strange group of individuals in South Africa, including the Gupta family, the Zuma family, and specifically Mr Duduzane Zuma and the fanatical leader, BLF leader Andile Mngxitama, used a racially driven agenda in South Africa to promote their own narrow and personal interests. This racial agenda was executed and promoted by the Bell Pottinger Firm from London in an effort to increase the racial divide between South Africans.
Although Bell Pottinger is now endeavouring to control the damage within the company, after certain action was taken against them, including the company’s suspension for five years from the Public Relations and Communications Association in the UK, these are all efforts to protect the company’s own image. While the company struggles to restore its own image, enormous damage has been done in South Africa.
From the South African perspective where a race-driven agenda has determined the conversation of the past few years, the Bell Pottinger company poured oil on the fire. Questions must therefore be asked about the funds that the Guptas and the Zumas paid to the company to perform the unholy work in South Africa. It is estimated that the Oakbay (Gupta Company) payments to Bell Pottinger were in excess of R20 million. Oakbay allegedly paid at least GB£100 000 monthly and at the current exchange rate this is more than R20 million. This excludes Mr Duduzane Zuma's payments.
Apart from its own internal damage control a further step for Bell Pottinger should be to repay the funds (more than R20 million) illegally paid from South Africa for the disgraceful and devious work they undertook. These funds could at least start a process of building bridges among communities and of healing the racial divide between South Africans.