Thabisa Moleshe

Curious about everything! Passionate about SA and it's youth, it's future!

[Phumzile Van Damme @zilevandamme]

Next we need to hear from the Minister of Communications, this is not going away, I’m afraid.

[Mbhazima Shilowa @Enghumbhini]

Dina Pule being brought back as a minister confirms that the ANC speaks from both ends of the mouth about renewal: integrity, ethical leadership and revolutionary morality.

[Redi Tlhabi @RediTlhabi]

"The Editorial Board." Why are your authors reluctant to put their names to their words? Yes I know "The Editorial Board" is a thing in the US and you seem to have cut and pasted their style and tone. But I'd argue there is a more compelling case for bold, courageous and transparent authorship. If you are not brave enough to show name and face, you should not write. Readers need to know the orientations, beliefs and history of the writers. It's a decent thing to do when people have taken the time to read your stuff. I personally don't debate anonymous writers, however compelling their output. Cowardice is a total turnoff. And whatever one might think of Leon, he is not a coward. So own your defence of him.

[Mteto Nyati @mteton]

I have served long enough in leadership to recognise a troubling pattern. Too many among South Africa’s elite - black and white - appear to believe the rules that govern the rest of us do not apply to them.

As chairman of an SOE, I am regularly approached by business leaders asking me to intervene in operational or procurement matters. When I explain that my role is governance and oversight, not management, they say they understand. Yet the requests continue. This reveals a belief that exceptions exist for the connected few.

It was therefore striking to see Business Leadership South Africa and BUSA, organisations that have been vocal against state capture and political interference in state-owned enterprises, actively advocate for political intervention to transfer transmission assets to the Transmission System Operator. These are the same bodies that insist on corporate governance and board independence. Where, then, is the role of the SOE board? What exactly do they believe in?

Equally concerning are recent allegations involving former Democratic Alliance leader Tony Leon. Senior figures within his own party, including John Steenhuisen and Dion George, have raised issues that appear to involve conflicts of interest and undue influence. This from a voice that has long lectured on ethical standards and clean governance. Do these rules apply to everyone, or only when politically convenient? Selective morality is not morality at all.

When those who position themselves as guardians of good governance apply different standards to themselves, public trust erodes. But South Africans are watching. We see the inconsistencies. We now know where people stand.

The path forward requires courage. We must expose wrongdoing wherever it occurs without fear or favour. We must demand that those who preach accountability live it consistently. We must insist that rules bind the powerful as they bind ordinary citizens. And we must model the ethical society we want to build.

South Africa does not lack good people. What we need is the collective will to insist that principle applies to all. Let us find that courage. Let us call out double standards and build a nation where no one is above the law. That is the South Africa worth fighting for. #ProudlySA

[marang setshwaelo @marangdream]

This is the root of the issue. Uncaring leadership who’ve driven their economies into the ground. Citizens flee to greener pastures in droves, out of sheer desperation-the leaders visit on weekend shopping sprees, while their people suffer.
The AU seemingly blind to this crisis.

[Fadzayi Mahere🇿🇼 @advocatemahere]

🔸Malawians are in the middle of a humanitarian crisis in South Africa. Their lives and livelihoods are under threat. Their leader’s response is to drink champagne and take a private jet to South Africa for his personal business. The bankruptcy of leadership is breathtaking.

The grand irony is that this is the same poor leadership that’s driven migrants away from home. Zimbabwe is in the same boat. It’s a mess.

We need new leaders.🇿🇼

[Mbekezeli @MbekezeliMB]

The newly-elected President of Malawi took a private jet to South Africa and stayed in luxury for two weeks.
Not once did he bother to speak to Malawians once.
This is the failed African leadership that’s failing all of us in the region.

[Phumzile Van Damme @zilevandamme]

1. We know the public affairs industry. We know the difference between lobbying: making persuasive arguments, and coercion: using the threat of political consequences to pressure elected representatives into serving private interests over the public. That is not lobbying. It is an assault on an MP’s constitutional oath of office.

2. We also know the Executive Ethics Code. Section 2(3)(d) and (f), specifically. Which is precisely why a meeting with Starlink was inappropriate.

3. We also know it is inappropriate for a Minister to meet privately with a company due to submit a “tender”. ICASA falls within the Department of Communications.

3. We also know Parliament was misled in response to a parliamentary question about the meeting taking place. We know of the President’s meeting, it was public, not clandestine and lied about to Parliament.

4. We also know that, after the meeting, the conversation shifted to changing policies and laws. The sequence of events speaks for itself.

5. And you ought to know this: we are not nearly as naïve as you seem to think we are. And you really need to stop thinking the rest of South Africa is stupid too.

6. Good luck & Godspeed. 🫶🏾

[Brett Herron 🇿🇦🍉 @brettherron]

Shameless. Can find R120 million in a tight budget for a wall…but not one cent to fix the living conditions of the people the N2 Wall is meant to hide.
@Our_DA
#ApartheidWall

[Max du Preez @MaxduPreez]

Take us South Africans seriously, ambassador. I'm not happy about our proximity to Tehran, but with the US's close friendship with dictatorships in the Gulf, your role in Gaza, your senseless war in Iran & your president's flirtation with Putin & Xi you're the last one to preach

[Redi Tlhabi @RediTlhabi]

On June 5th, President Trump said "I'd be honored to meet him." He was talking about Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamanei.

14-15 May, Trump visited China and said Xi Jinping is "very smart," has "great stature" is "all business." But that was not the first time. In 2017, whilst in China during his first term, Trump said Xi is "a very special man" and "highly respected and powerful representative of his people."

Did you also have a fit of pique then? Or you are just a bully? Bullying a nation that consistently overlooks your rudeness and affords you so much grace and courtesy?

[Thabisa Moleshe @ThabisaGC]

@MyJRA @CityofJoburgZA @_ArriveAlive @GPDRT_ @JoburgMPD @GTP_Traffstats @RegionF_Joburg @CityPowerJhb @CoJTransport This has been going on for years. What we have been witnessing is intentional looking the other way from officials who should have long ACTED!

[Clement Manyathela @TheRealClementM]

Shouldn’t we start a petition to extend the work and mandate of the Madlanga commisison?We can discuss the mandate or what new form the commisison will take. But my goodness,this commussion could help expose more crooks. And that may serve as a crime deterrent. What do you think?

[Redi Tlhabi @RediTlhabi]

This is truly disheartening. The commission's work should end when it has concluded its inquiry not because of money. Especially in a country where the government has presided over multiple instances of looting, wastage and corruption. It's shameful.

[Andrew Fraser @Arfness]

MyBroadband simply LOOOVES Starlink. It's getting to the point where an intervention may be required.

[Redi Tlhabi @RediTlhabi]

My piece on why Starlink IS a national security issue for South Africa.
https://t.co/a9fq8znv7G

[Thabisa Moleshe @ThabisaGC]

@RediTlhabi Spot on 💯. Thank you Redi.

[Ismail Abramjee @IsmailAbramjee]

Since Times Live didn’t use Mark’s photo in the article, here is his photo. 👇

[Nelisiwe @NeliMsomi]

Mark's photo and not Redi's should have been used!

[Redi Tlhabi @RediTlhabi]

What are you doing? And why are you doing it?