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The Public Relations and Communications Association has been investigating Bell Pottinger since July when South Africa's political party the Democratic Alliance made a complaint to them that Bell Pottinger were helping to stoke racial tensions in South Africa through its work for the powerful Gupta family.
The PRCA issued its report on Monday, and it was pretty damning. It expelled Bell Pottinger for at least five years for four breaches of its professional and ethical code.
Well, the PRCA expelled Bell Pottinger today because of their completely unethical and unprofessional work in South Africa for the Oakbay Capital account. It's the worst work I've ever seen. I've been representing the PRCA for 10 years. I've seen nothing worse than it. And therefore, we took the ultimate sanction of expelling them immediately and of saying that, if they wish to reapply for membership, they can't do so for at least five years.
Bell Pottinger were taken on by the Gupta family to help promote their economic interests. They have a vast array of business interests in South Africa, from media to mining, but are known to be extremely close to the President, Jacob Zuma. And they were accused by opponents of promoting economic emancipation, of targeting white monopoly capital.
These are claims that Bell Pottinger denied, but both the PRCA report and an independent report carried out by Herbert Smith Freehills, the law firm, found that they were guilty of inflaming racial tensions in South Africa.
Well, according to the co-founder, Lord Tim Bell, this is curtains for Bell Pottinger. When a corporate reputation PR agency finds itself in the firing line over its own reputation, it's very difficult to see how it can recover. The anticipation now is that it will lose clients. It will lose its best staff. It is trying to find a buyer for the agency, but it's very difficult to see what the value is.
Chime Communications, which is partly owned by WPP, has already handed back a large chunk of its shares in the business for nothing. So you can see that it can be quite difficult for them to sell the business. They may try and rebrand, but it's extremely difficult to see how they recover.
