Thabo Mkhize

Background

About Thabo Mkhize

Highly skilled and passionate Communications & Public Relations Specialist with strong Business Acumen and an ability to produce creative and compelling content for any organisation.Has a proven track record of 22 years leading the day-to-day corporate communications, driving the delivery of several business-critical communication projects, ensuring communications provision is fit for purpose and responsive to the future needs of internal and external customers.At the Office of the Tax Ombud, where I am a Communications and Outreach Specialist (Editing and Publications), I started, manage and produce content for Perspective (bi-monthly internal newsletter) and Fair Play (quarterly external newsletter). This in addition to managing the institution’s social media platforms (Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram) and producing content for its marketing (advertisement, branding, and communications (Annual Reports, Annual Performance Plans, Strategic Plans, Quarterly Reports and Media Statements to mention a few).In a career spanning 22 years in newspaper journalism and corporate communications, marketing and public relations, I have managed some innovative, highly successful projects. When the Road Accident Fund started harnessing the power of social media platforms, I was instrumental in growing its base of friends and followers to about 45 in just 23 months. I also led the community mobilisation team for an award-winning campaign (“RAF on the Road”) that reached hundreds of thousands of road users, and was the creative mind behind the agency’s first-ever television advert (“We want you to know us, but hope you never need us.”).A hallmark of my career is exposure to the media industry from both sides, first as a journalist and then as a government media and public relations specialist. This accounts for my strong writing skills, consisting of news, report and feature writing, profiling, speech writing and media release writing. I spent two years at the Road Accident Fund before joining the Technology Innovation Agency in Pretoria, also for two years, and then returned to the RAF as a Senior Communications Specialist. In June 2015, I joined the Communications and Outreach unit in the Office of the Tax Ombud. In this challenging position, I am involved in every facet of communications and outreach, from media liaison and events management to corporate branding, stakeholder management and content development for print, audio-visual and digital media. Specifically, I produce content for all the institution’s communications and outreach platforms.