Echoing her sentiments was Roelf Meyer, also a trustee and director of FeverTree Consulting, who stressed that the 2010 FIFA World Cup is a rare opportunity to focus the world's eyes on South Africa.
“We will be able to show that we are a ‘can do' nation,” Meyer said.
The IMC's newly elected board consists of 37 trustees, all of whom are heavy-weights in business and government. Its executive authority lies with Dr Essop Pahad, Minister in the Presidency, and four ministers serve as patrons – the ministers of Communications, Trade and Industry, Environmental Affairs & Tourism and Arts & Culture.
Prof Barney Pityana, principal and vice chancellor of UNISA and also a board member, feels that the IMC has done a tremendous job thus far, a sentiment backed up by research – a brand equity study valued Brand South Africa at R516.6 billion in 2007, up from R379.5 billion in 2003. This figure is a measure of the selling power of the South African brand, that is, its ability to attract foreigners to the country's products, industry and shores. Pahad has attributed the rise in the value of Brand South Africa to the work of the IMC.
Says Pityana, “The new opportunities presented to Brand South Africa by 2010 will put even greater demands on the IMC. But the new Board, working together with all South Africans, have the skills, the energy, the vision and the commitment to showcase to the world how Alive with Possibility South Africa is.”
