Sohini Gowan

Healthcare Communicator. Storyteller. Strategist. Ex-Clinical Research professional. Information Literacy advocate. Politics nerd. Jozi-to-the-core.

[Encyclopaedia Britannica @Britannica]

Unlike Microsoft Outlook, these bad boys never go down.

[UN Human Rights Council @UN_HRC]

The President of the @UN Human Rights Council, Sidharto R. Suryodipuro, has appointed Tshepo Madlingozi to serve as Chair of the International Independent Expert Mechanism to Advance Racial Justice and Equality in Law Enforcement (EMLER).

Info ➔https://t.co/NJ2nr5Ham5

[Mbali Ntuli @mbalimcdust]

Please do not allow any politician or political party to gaslight you into believing that the way the public voted has somehow forced them into an impossible situation where they now have too little time to negotiate and form governments.

The Local Government: Municipal Structures Amendment Bill, commonly referred to as the Coalitions Bill, has been in development since 2024 and was only formally introduced in Parliament in August 2026.

Among other things, the Bill was meant to provide a proper legislative framework for coalitions, including extending the current 14-day period for convening newly elected councils to 30 days, giving parties more time to negotiate.

Every single political party knew this. We have been dealing with coalition governments since 2016. We went through this again in 2021. Nobody can pretend that the possibility of hung councils in 2026 came as a surprise.

I personally called at least one senior person in each of the big six political parties, in some cases more than one, to raise these very issues. So I know they knew.

Yet I have already heard two politicians suggesting that voters have put them in this difficult position.

No. The voters did their jobs. They voted.

Political parties had years to prepare for these outcomes and to ensure that the necessary legislative reforms were in place. That this was not done cannot now become the responsibility of the electorate.

The public is not responsible for political parties failing to plan for an electoral outcome they knew was entirely possible.

And please, let us not start treating voters exercising their democratic rights as an inconvenience to politicians who now have to negotiate with one another.

Democracy does not exist to produce results that are administratively convenient for political parties.

[Mandy Wiener @MandyWiener]

If there's one thing that I learnt while interviewing politicians for The Deal, it's that it all comes down to personal relationships. There are people in the DA who hate people in Action SA and visa versa. On a visceral level. There are people in the ANC who can't stand some in the DA and visa versa. They are going to have to put personal differences aside and sit down and talk.

[Kitty @kitzluvs]

PSA: Please try your best not to give the @IECSouthAfrica staff a hard time. Most of them were at the voting station since 5am & have to be there way past midnight. It is a very long day for them. A smile and a Thanks goes a very long way.

[Rory Petzer @RoryPetzer]

Sorry I’m late for the meeting. There was a lot of climate change on the road.

[Wandile Sihlobo @WandileSihlobo]

Sorry Im super late here. NO, my friend. We shouldn't. We have ample food supplies in South Africa.

Yes, the El Niño will lead to some increases in some products, but overall, we are okay.

And farmers are planting a decent area for the new season, as I talked about its progress here.

[Lynette Ntuli @MsNtuli]

Is the JHB metro council aware that LGE elections are in 4 days? Because the flies are the size of small drones…

[Dawie Scholtz @DawieScholtz]

Friendly reminder that voter turnout will be SUPER IMPORTANT. Especially to my Joburg friends - if you have any interest in the outcome whatsoever, your decision to vote is hugely important.

TURN OUT TO VOTE NEXT WEDNESDAY! AND PLAN TO DO SO EARLY (+take people along)

[Veve @LudidiVelani]

The growing use of AI-generated posters by government departments and other institutions will eventually come back to haunt them. By normalising AI-generated visuals in official communication, they are making it increasingly difficult for the public to distinguish genuine announcements from fabricated ones.

People are already creating fake posters that look remarkably similar to official communications. The danger is that misinformation can now spread under the appearance of credibility

[Qaanitah Hunter @QaanitahHunter]

Calling all small news creators: if you want to build a portfolio around election coverage, and don’t have equipment or studio access, hit me up. I can loan you stuff or you can use our premises.

[André Janones @AndreJanonesMG]

No había un hombre. Había diez millones de hombres y mujeres. Un ejército. Diez millones de corazones y ni un solo fusil.

El ejército del mayor líder popular de la historia de Brasil: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Un ejército que no llevaba armas, sino esperanza. Que no disparaba balas, sino palabras. Que no conquistaba territorios, sino corazones.

Porque hay batallas que no se ganan con la fuerza de las armas, sino con la fuerza de las convicciones.

Y cuando millones de corazones laten por una misma causa, no hay ejército en el mundo más poderoso que un pueblo decidido a escribir su propia historia.

Yo solo fui uno de esos diez millones.

El verdadero general siempre fue el pueblo. Y Lula, la esperanza que nos mantuvo unidos.

¡Viva Lula! ¡Viva el pueblo brasileño! ❤️🇧🇷

[IEC South Africa @IECSouthAfrica]

@ElsSaidIt This is not true. If you choose not to vote, your vote does NOT automatically go to the ruling party. Only valid votes cast in an election are counted in the result.

[Phumzile Van Damme @zilevandamme]

A post explaining a disinformation tactic prevalent in South African social media spaces and how it can and must be defeated. ✍🏽

There is a disinformation and social media manipulation tactic called "mass brigading," often used by political parties and "movements" to silence dissent. It involves a group of users banding together to discredit someone expressing a different opinion by flooding their comment sections with negative comments and insults.

You know the usual culprits: the anti-democratic forces seeking to sow discord, polarise, incite and normalise violence, stifle democracy, and encourage you not to vote.

Mass brigading works because no one likes to be piled on. People self-censor to escape it.

DO NOT BE FEARFUL. DO NOT SHRINK. DO NOT SELF-CENSOR. NEVER FOLD.

I honestly couldn’t give two whatnots about being mass-brigaded. Come one, come all. Bring uBobby noSnoopy wakini futhi. BABIZE. Continue and, thanks for the engagement and boosting my views opposing your need to destabilise South Africa in the Twitter algorithm, now more will see it.

Basically, and in French: f them and their Mama.

In uMageba: Ngeke ngizwe ngawe.

Mass brigading can be defeated by refusing to be silenced. Hundreds of accounts with 2 followers, no profile picture, anonymous, flooding your mentions? Those are not real people but unthinking minions sent to silence you. Will you be silenced and let them win?

Could never be you, my darling.

Stand firmly on principle and refuse to budge. Stiffen your backbone and SPEAK (WRITE).

Our democracy will hold.

Hugs and kisses. Country Duty activated.

HAAK 🇿🇦💪

[Prof Thuli Madonsela #KindnessBuilds @ThuliMadonsela3]

Congratulations Judge Navi Pillay on winning the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize. Through your unshakeably compassionate, committed and courageous pursuit of truth and justice you have taught us that it is right and proper to stand for truth and justice even when unpopular at a particular moment. You remained one of the unshakeable voices on international law on war, human rights and peace even when it suddenly became unfashionable to do so. Well done to you and the Nobel Peace Prize - an immense blow was struck against impunity today. ⚖️🕊️

[Chrispin Phiri 🇿🇦 @Chrispin_JPhiri]

Born in the South African city of Durban in 1941, this daughter of a bus driver was put through university thanks to donations from fellow members of the local Indian community.

Graduating with a law degree, Ms Pillay became the first woman to establish a legal practice in South Africa's Natal province.

"I had no choice," she told the BBC. "No law firm would employ me because they said they could not have white employees taking instructions from a coloured person."

"I was representing men who were imprisoned on Robben Island along with Mandela," she said.

"They had no right to legal representation or even to know the rules of the prison. I was told by their wives just how bad the conditions were."

A successful appeal by Ms Pillay to the provincial court gave Nelson Mandela and his fellow inmates some very basic legal rights. Not surprisingly she soon found herself under constant surveillance from the security police.

[Agnes Callamard @AgnesCallamard]

Amazing moment.

Navi Pillay has received the Nobel Peace Prize ! https://t.co/HL3r1PJzLO

We are at the Nuremberg Court; I cannot think of a stronger symbol for her Nobel prize.

We are all so thrilled!

This is her first reactions upon hearing the news:

[The Nobel Prize @NobelPrize]

Newly awarded peace laureate Navi Pillay has held states and national leaders accountable and brought hope to victims of violence and conflict.

Navi Pillay is one of the great defenders of international legal principles in our time. Her distinguished career reminds us of the need to support, fortify and expand the global rule of law. Navi Pillay’s commitment to justice and human dignity is a source of hope and inspiration to all who seek to bring about a more peaceful world.

Read more about the 2026 #NobelPeacePrize: https://t.co/JMjpp1jPKc

#NobelPrize

[The Nobel Prize @NobelPrize]

The #NobelPeacePrize for 2026 goes to a person who with exceptional courage and integrity has led the way towards a more comprehensive global legal order. This year’s laureate Navi Pillay has been instrumental in ensuring that war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide are prosecuted.

#NobelPrize

[Michael de Villiers @Mikedotcoza]

South Africa must document its history properly, or we risk people even denying apartheid ever happened. We need more documentaries and demographic data—without them, we leave the narrative to those with influence to shape the country as they see fit.