Maanda B

Managing Director..
Son of the soil.. 🇿🇦

[Nigeria Stories @NigeriaStories]

“To our young people: Nigeria 🇳🇬 is your home and your future. Build here, code here, work here, and vote here. Every great nation was built by those who stayed to solve problems, not by those who abandoned ship.”

~ President Bola Tinubu Tells Young Nigerians

[Hopewell Chin’ono @daddyhope]

It is that time again when President Arthur Peter Mutharika of Malawi heads to South Africa for a medical check-up.

The 87-year-old President was elected by Malawians last year to serve another five-year term. He has already travelled to South Africa several times, and if I am not mistaken, this must be his third visit for medical treatment.

Meanwhile, many Malawian public hospitals struggle with severe shortages. Some lack basic necessities, including reliable access to clean drinking water, let alone adequate medication and medical equipment.
Yet the President is able to fly to South Africa on a private jet to receive treatment while ordinary Malawians are left to rely on an under-resourced healthcare system.

This raises a broader question that applies not only to Malawi but to much of Africa, why can’t African leaders fix their healthcare delivery systems so that they can receive treatment in their own countries instead of travelling abroad?

President Arthur Peter Mutharika is not unique. Across Africa, presidents, vice-presidents and senior government officials routinely travel to South Africa, India, China, Dubai and other destinations for medical care.
Yet if one considers the amount of money spent on private jets, accommodation, security, allowances and medical bills abroad, that expenditure could go a long way towards improving healthcare systems at home.

The greatest tragedy is that a Malawian president can fly all the way to South Africa for medical treatment, only to discover that the doctor treating him is Malawian. That is the real tragedy of Africa. We spend millions sending our leaders abroad for treatment while failing to build healthcare systems that can retain our own doctors and serve our own people at home.

No nation can claim to be developing while its leaders have confidence in foreign hospitals but expect ordinary citizens to rely on failing public healthcare systems. The true test of leadership is building institutions that are good enough for everyone, including those in power.

If I were the president of an African country, I would make it an unchangeable law that every public official elected to public office must use public hospitals. Not private hospitals in our own country, and certainly not hospitals abroad, but public hospitals.

If you believe that a public hospital is beneath you, then you should not be in a public office in the first place. If you are unwilling to use the same healthcare system as the people who elected you, then you clearly lack the commitment, confidence or capacity to fix the problems facing that healthcare system.

The moment a minister, member of parliament, vice-president or president knows that their own life and the lives of their families depend on the quality of public healthcare, things will change very quickly. Equipment will be purchased, medicines will be stocked, doctors will be retained, and hospitals will be maintained.

The tragedy in many African countries is that those responsible for fixing public services are often insulated from the consequences of their failure. They send their children to private schools, use private security, live in exclusive suburbs and seek medical treatment abroad, while ordinary citizens are left to endure collapsing public services.

A leader should never ask citizens to rely on services that they themselves are unwilling to use. True leadership means sharing the same realities as the people you serve and having enough faith in your own policies to live by them.

It is also important to acknowledge things where they actually work, things that reflect the Africa that we want. Nelson Mandela did not die in a hospital abroad. He died in South Africa, being treated by South African doctors. The former Vice President of South Africa, David Mabuza, did not die in a foreign hospital. He died while being treated in a hospital in South Africa. Presidents Hage Geingob and Sam Nujoma of Namibia did not die in foreign hospitals. They died in Namibian hospitals, being treated by Namibian doctors.

That is the kind of Africa that we want, not what we see in countries such as Zimbabwe, Malawi and Nigeria, where presidents do not even have faith in the public systems that they are running. That is a tragedy.

As for Malawi, it is a tragedy because it is one of the poorest countries in the world, if not the poorest, and yet it is being saddled with these huge bills by its ailing and very elderly president. Yet his own country, as I have said many times, does not even have water in some of its major public hospitals. Just drinking water, forget about the medicine.

Former Malawian President Hastings Kamuzu Banda died on 25 November 1997 in Johannesburg, South Africa, in a South African hospital. President Peter Mutharika’s brother, former Malawian President Bingu wa Mutharika, suffered a cardiac arrest in 2012 and was flown to South Africa on a private jet.

So, almost 30 years after Malawi’s founding president died in South Africa, Malawian leaders are still travelling to South Africa for medical treatment. Three decades later, they are still unable to fix their own healthcare system.

It is sad. A country cannot continue spending millions flying its leaders abroad for treatment while its public hospitals struggle to provide basic services. The real measure of development is whether a country’s leaders have enough confidence in their own healthcare system to use it themselves.

Thirty years later, the destination remains the same, South Africa. That should concern every Malawian. It is a painful tragedy.

[Gayton McKenzie @GaytonMcK]

Dear @BafanaBafana

The @Springboks lost their first game in 2019 against NZ in Japan at the Rugby World Cup, they went on to win the Cup🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

Dankie

[H.i.l.e.n.i @ndafelao_01]

The way other African nations are hating on SA just shows how people hate you when you draw certain boundaries in your life.

[SoccerBeat @SoccerBeatZA]

🚨 𝐃𝐄𝐀𝐋 𝐃𝐎𝐍𝐄! 🌊

SoccerBeat can confirm that Khalil Ben Youssef has signed with Durban City and will become the club’s new head coach. ✍🏼

#BetwayPrem #AirMobile #AbsaFootballFriday

[Sam Okudzeto Ablakwa @S_OkudzetoAblak]

The Government of Ghana is repatriating 327 Ghanaians from La Côte d'Ivoire following a mass demolition exercise by Ivorian authorities.

228 arrived in Ghana safely yesterday.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ special consular intervention of bringing back home Ghanaians and their belongings is to guarantee the protection and welfare of our stranded compatriots.

The Ministry is grateful to all those who brought this development to our attention and conveys appreciation to our diplomatic mission in Abidjan and Ivorian authorities for the effective cooperation and welcome promise of compensation.

For God and Country 🇬🇭 🙏

[Hàbibi 🇳🇦 @paxthetruth]

@eldad_barber South African has taken care of more Nigerians than Mexico 😂

[Micky Jnr @MickyJnr__]

Aboutrika on Hugo Broos:

“He’s afraid of the game. It’s the first match, so he’s scared. He went too defensive and right from the lineup, I knew he will lose. I put the blame on the coach. A disastrous match. I am shocked as an African because this team deserves to play much better with the qualities they have. Mexico isn’t that special.”

Strong words from Aboutrika, who clearly believes Bafana Bafana underperformed and left too much on the table in the opener.

𝐃𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐫 𝐧𝐨𝐭?

#WorldCupwithMicky #FIFAWorldCup

[Hopewell Chin’ono @daddyhope]

This was one of the worst-kept secrets in South African politics: that MK and Jacob Zuma were the political forces behind March and March.

The real question that still needs to be answered is who is funding these activities and, more importantly, for what purpose. Following the money often reveals far more than the slogans and public statements.

There is an illegal immigration problem in South Africa, and there are indeed undocumented immigrants living in the country. However, the real tragedy is that some individuals and political actors are exploiting a genuine challenge to advance their own narrow, parochial political agendas.

Instead of pursuing practical, lawful, and sustainable solutions, they are using the issue to inflame emotions, divide communities, and score cheap political points. A serious problem deserves serious leadership, not opportunism.

The focus should be on enforcing the law, securing borders, improving immigration systems, and protecting social cohesion, not on exploiting public frustration for personal or political gain.

[Yaya Libram🇿🇦 @Sello_Libram]

🚨Terrorism Alert in Middelburg, 🇿🇦:
SAPS🇿🇦 Police and other state organs have discovered a suspected Al Qaeda sleeper cell in a hideout flat full of illegal middle east & pakistan men of military age.
Unknown electronic devices were found as well as suspicious literature.

[Sekhukhune United F.C. @SekhukhuneFc]

"Thank you for everything football has done for me and my family. I am retiring from the beautiful game, but I will definitely not be lost to it.
Thank you Babina Noko."

~ LINDA MNTAMBO #23

🦔🦔🦔
#BabinaNoko
#Adibahlale
#LindaMntambo23

[ISHMAEL 🏴‍☠️☠️🇿🇦🇨🇩🇵🇸 @mr_shimmy]

This video of a Ghanaian pastor who was repatriated will never trend because he’s telling the truth about the situation in South Africa… this man has earned my respect it’s just that he’s gone but he deserved 2 cows 🤣🤣🤣

[Jackson Hinkle 🇺🇸 @jacksonhinkle]

❤️🇮🇷🇲🇽 Iran’s World Cup matches should be hosted by Mexico

The U.S. & FIFA are a disgrace…

[Alex Tiffin @RespectIsVital]

South Africa, Germany and other recent #WorldCup hosts were forced by FIFA to promise all accredited officials, players and staff would be guaranteed visas and minimal immigration interference for the tournament duration.

Why is the United States exempt from that @FIFAcom?

[Maanda B @MaandaB3]

@Abramjee Four undocumented foreign nationals striping off South Africa economy but I'm not surprised, they are here to destroy.

And it's a shame knowing where they are from and we still have leaders who stand by them

Guys you need to know we don't anywhere to run to,this is all we have.

[African @ali_naka]

Show me another Picture of a Team subjected to this humiliation!

Fuck @FIFAcom

[Ahmed Mohamed ((ASMALi)) @Asmali77]

Somalis are a very unique breed.

A Somali businessman has offered FIFA referee Omar Artan $100,000 to compensate for the loss of earning he would have made officiating the World Cup.

Official referees at the World Cup earn approximately $50,000 to 75,000.

[Ben Jacobs @JacobsBen]

FIFA confirm Omar Abdulkadir Artan can’t officiate at the World Cup after being denied entry into the United States.

The Somali referee is one of Africa’s most respected officials. Somalia's Ministry of Youth and Sports say Artan travelled with a valid US visa.

Yet Somalia is on a travel ban list introduced by President Trump’s administration.

🗣️ “FIFA is not involved in host country immigration processes, including visa adjudications, and has been informed by authorities that Mr Artan's status will not be changed at present.

“In line with previous FIFA events, a host government ultimately determines who receives a visa and who is admitted into their country.”

[Maanda B @MaandaB3]

@JacobsBen @LeiMashele This World Cup will go down as worst tournament we ever experienced.

[Justice, Crime Prevention and Security @CrimeWatch_RSA]

#MadlangaCommission | An extract of WhatsApp messages reflecting that the questions in the letter dated 17 June 2021 which was addressed to the Minister of Police by a former Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) Member of Parliament, Dr Mbuyiseni Ndlozi, were drafted by Major General Feroz Khan on WhatsApp message dated 11 June 2021. These questions were subsequently revised and incorporated into a letter to the Minister of Police.