12 April 2017

Statement from Bell Pottinger re work for Oakbay

On Friday 31 March the South Africa Communist Party released a report Bell Pottinger - PR support for
the Gupta family. The report was anonymous, gave no sources for its allegations and contained many
statements about this firm and our work for Oakbay that were wholly untrue.

Since then a concerted social media campaign has been waged against this firm and certain of its
Partners and staff, with personally abusive and threatening comments on social media platforms. Bell
Pottinger has been happy to deny on the record all the allegations made against it, the firm and its
Partners and staff hold themselves to the highest professional standards. To suggest that we would
stoke racial tension in South Africa is both insulting and wrong.

For the last year we have been working to help Oakbay defend itself from attacks on its reputation,
correcting misrepresentations and defending it and its owners from politically motivated attack. In recent
times the tactics of Oakbays detractors have changed; Bell Pottinger has been targeted and become
the story. The unfounded and unsourced report referred to above is the latest example of the campaign
against us. Unfortunately, in this regard, they have had some success and we have to accept that this
has compromised our ability to be an effective advocate for our client.

It is therefore with regret that we have suggested to Oakbay, and have mutually agreed with them,
that we will step down from our role as communications advisers with immediate effect. In all our work
for Oakbay we have seen no evidence of wrongdoing.