SPONSORSHIP OF PPF
Advertising by SOEs put in the spotlight
Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown reacts after grilling over sponsorship by Eskom and Transnet for Progressive Professionals Forum functions
State-owned enterprises (SOEs) need to be "more circumspect" about advertising because they are big enough and well-known enough not to need it. This is according to Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown, who made the comment on Wednesday during an engagement with members of the public enterprises committee and in reply to a question by DA public enterprises spokeswoman Natasha Mazzone about the R840,000 sponsorship by Eskom and Transnet for Progressive Professionals Forum (PPF) functions. Mazzone noted that Eskom was still sponsoring breakfasts by Gupta-owned The New Age newspaper and would soon sponsor one for Free State Premier Ace Magashule. The PPF is headed by Mzwanele Manyi, a strong lobbyist against the Treasury. Brown said she did not want to call for an outright ban on all advertising by SOEs because she understood the "enormous strain" being experienced by print media. She also noted that SOEs had sponsorship programmes that, for example, assisted schools, clubs and old...
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