The other professional partner, at a global level, is the Switzerland-based World Communication Forum. Its founder and president, Yanina Dubeykovskaya, attended and spoke at the 2018 Brand Summit South Africa. The 2019 Brand Summit South Africa event will be hosted at the forum in Bryanston, Gauteng on Thursday, 6 June and Friday, 7 June.

According to PRISA, the event was opened by South Africa’s chief justice Mogoeng Mogoeng, who delivered a keynote address anchored on the spirit of and values enshrined in the Preamble to South Africa’s Constitution.

Gary Leigh, a brand specialist and founder of Leigh’s Truth and Propaganda, delivered a paper on the importance of country branding.

Other speakers at the summit included professor Thuli Madonsela, former Public Protector of South Africa; Bonang Mohale, CEO of Business Leadership South Africa; Kganki Matabane, CEO of Black Business Council; Mteto Nyati, CEO of Altron; Simon Sussman, chairperson of Woolworths Holdings; Themba Maseko, former CEO of the GCIS; Neeshan Bolton, executive director of the Achmat Kathrada Foundation; and other leaders in corporate South Africa, media, politics, education, sports, community development, social justice, etc.

Delegates came from Nigeria, Ghana, France, Ethiopia, Namibia, Kenya, Russia and Switzerland, with others sending video recorded messages from Beijing, New Delhi, Budapest, Moscow, etc.

Unable to travel to Cape Town on the summit days due to health matters, Mavuso Msimang, ANC veteran and chairperson of Corruption Watch, also sent a recorded video that was screened to summit delegates.

"The partnership with PRISA and City Nation Place Ltd is a natural one for this event," says Solly Moeng, summit convenor.

"Much of the content of the summit’s programme revolves around issues of country brand or destination reputation management, which include public relations and communication management, stakeholder engagement, reputation management, destination marketing strategies best practice, etc. Professionals in all these areas of activity have a lot to contribute and to learn from the planned discussions," he adds.

PRISA's executive director Victor Sibeko says, "For us, Brand Summit South Africa will provide an ideal opportunity for our members to move from theory to discussing a real evolving brand; a country brand."

"Public relations and communication management professionals, who make the core of our membership, often get called upon/commissioned to help brands engage their stakeholders through effective strategic communication. Such calls for interventions increasingly use complex communication tools and platforms; they also have to show measurable outcomes. A discussion on South Africa, the country brand, is very close to our hearts and will be exciting to analyse from various touch points," Sibeko adds.

"City Nation Place Ltd is delighted to be partnering with the South Africa Brand Summit. It’s our mission to help places around the world develop a more cohesive and collaborative approach to place brand strategy, and the South Africa Brand Summit contributes to this by bringing together government and private sector to share ideas for the positive development of South Africa, the country brand, on the world stage," says Clare Dewhirst on behalf of the organisation.

The annual City Nation Place Awards aims to benchmark and celebrate innovative and effective place brand strategy and place marketing campaigns.

Absent from the 2018 summit, and now introduced into the 2019 programme, will be a discussion panel consisting of 'Leaders of The Future', consisting of speakers under the age of 35 who will share their views about and expectations of South Africa in the context of fast-evolving domestic, regional, continental and global dynamics.

This includes a discussion about what they understand by the 'Fourth Industrial Revolution' and how they think South Africa should best prepare for it.

In addition, the 2019 keynote address will be delivered by Patrick Loch Otieno Lumumba, associate professor of public law and founding dean at the Kabarak University School of Law in Kenya. Sisa Ntshona, CEO of South African Tourism, will also speak at the 2019 Summit.

"PRISA Members will enjoy extensive discounts and it is a must-attend summit. We call on all PRISA members to ensure their membership is in good standing in order not to miss this opportunity of a lifetime," adds Sibeko. "This partnership is the beginning of many member value proposition in the pipeline."

For more information, visit www.sabrandsummit.co.za or www.prisa.co.za. You can also follow PRISA on Facebook, Twitter or on Instagram.