Themba Maseko | |
---|---|
Chief Executive Officer of the Government Communication and Information System | |
In office 2006–2011 | |
President | Thabo Mbeki Kgalema Motlanthe Jacob Zuma |
Preceded by | Joel Netshitenzhe |
Succeeded by | Mzwanele Manyi |
Member of the National Assembly | |
In office 1994–1995 | |
Personal details | |
Born | 27 January 1964 |
Citizenship | South African |
Political party | African National Congress |
Alma mater | University of Witwatersrand DeMontfort University |
Themba Mveli James Maseko (born 27 January 1964) is a South African businessman,former public servant,and whistleblower who was the head of the Government Communication and Information System (GCIS) between 2006 and 2011. Since July 2024,he has been the head of the Wits School of Governance at the University of the Witwatersrand. He is known for publicly accusing the Gupta brothers of attempting improperly to influence the allocation of public advertising contracts during his time at GCIS.
Formerly an anti-apartheid activist,Maseko was briefly a member of the National Assembly of South Africa between 1994 and 1995,representing the African National Congress. In addition to his position at GCIS,and between stints in the private sector,he served as head of the Gauteng Department of Education from 1995 to 2000,as head of the national Department of Public Works from 2003 to 2006,and as head of the national Department of Public Service and Administration in 2011.
Maseko was born on 27 January 1964. [1] He matriculated in 1982 at Immaculata High School in Diepkloof,Soweto. [1] Thereafter he attended the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits),completing a BA in sociology and law in 1987 and an LLB in 1992. [1] Later,in 2002,he completed an MBA at De Montfort University in the Leicester,England. [1]
While a student,Maseko was active in the students' anti-apartheid movement,including as a member of the South African National Students Congress and the Azanian Students' Organisation,and he joined the National Education Coordinating Committee (NECC) in 1990. [1] From 1991 to 1993 he was the general secretary of NECC,and during that period he was also a member of the Regional Executive Committee of the South African Communist Party in Gauteng. [1] In the April 1994 general election,he was elected to represent the African National Congress (ANC) in the National Assembly,the newly established lower house of the post-apartheid Parliament of South Africa. [2]
Maseko resigned from the National Assembly in 1995 and became superintendent-general of the Gauteng Department of Education from 1995 to 2000. [3] During a subsequent stint in the private sector,in 2001 and 2002 he was managing director of the Damelin Education Group and CEO of Sifikile Investments. [3]
From February 2003 to February 2006,Maseko was the director-general of the national Department of Public Works,then under the political leadership of Minister Stella Sigcau. [1] He returned briefly to the private sector until 14 June 2006,when the Cabinet approved his appointment as CEO of the Government Communication and Information System (GCIS),a position which came with the responsibilities of cabinet spokesperson. [1] He succeeded Joel Netshitenzhe in the role. [3]
Initially appointed for three years, [1] he remained in office at GCIS until 2011,a period which spanned the end of Thabo Mbeki's presidency,the entirety of Kgalema Motlanthe's presidency,and the first quarter of Jacob Zuma's presidency. Maseko's departure from GCIS,announced by Minister in the Presidency Collins Chabane on 2 February 2011 and taking immediate effect, [4] was met with the surprise of the media,which had viewed Maseko as a competent public servant. [5] Chabane said that Maseko had "requested to be moved within government" and that Jimmy Manyi would replace him at GCIS. [6]
Upon his exit from GCIS,Maseko was transferred to become director-general of the national Department of Public Service and Administration. [5] Although his contract was due to last until the end of June 2012,he resigned with effect from 22 July 2011,after less than six months in the new position. [7] Maseko later explained that his relationship with Public Service Minister Richard Baloyi "did not gel",saying that Baloyi "felt I was imposed on him" and that he was sidelined in departmental decision-making. [8]
In October 2016,Maseko allegedly publicly –in a submission to a civil society panel and in an interview with City Press –that President Zuma had sacked him from GCIS in 2011 because of his refusal to acquiesce in state capture. According to Maseko,the Zuma-allied Gupta brothers had repeatedly lobbied him to use public funds to place advertisements in their New Age newspaper. [9] In 2018 he provided testimony in this vein to the Zondo Commission, [10] which concluded in its final report that Maseko's replacement by Manyi had been calculated to facilitate state capture by the Guptas. [11]
In 2021,Maseko published a memoir titled For My Country:Why I Blew the Whistle on Zuma and the Guptas. [12] He won a Whistleblower Award in the "Individual Whistleblower Excellence" category at Public Interest SA's inaugural Whistleblower Awards in October 2023. [13]
On 7 August 2017,Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA) announced that Maseko had been appointed as its director of communications. [14] [15] However,BLSA did not renew his contract at the expiry of its one-year term on 31 July 2018,instead embarking upon an overhaul of its communications department; [16] Maseko said that his departure was amicable. [17]
In January 2022,Maseko announced on Twitter that he had been appointed as the executive director of the executive development unit at the Wits School of Governance,housed at his alma mater. [18] He was also an adjunct professor there. He became acting head of the school in September 2023 and was permanently appointed to the position from 1 July 2024. [19]
Before his appointment to GCIS,Maseko was a member of the council of Vista University and a member of the boards of the Adopt-a-School Foundation and the Centre for Public Service Innovation. [1] In later years,he was a member of the boards of the Nelson Mandela Foundation,Corruption Watch,and the Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution. [19]
Maseko is married and has children. [19] He lives in Sandton,Johannesburg. [20]
Trevor Andrew Manuel is a retired South African politician and former anti-apartheid activist who served in the cabinet of South Africa between 1994 and 2014. He was the Minister of Finance from 1996 to 2009 under three successive presidents. He was also the first post-apartheid Minister of Trade and Industry from 1994 to 1996 and later the Minister in the Presidency for the National Planning Commission from 2009 to 2014. He was a member of the National Executive Committee of the African National Congress (ANC) from 1991 to 2012.
Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma is a South African politician who served as the fourth president of South Africa from 2009 to 2018. He is also referred to by his initials JZ and clan names Nxamalala and Msholozi. Zuma was a former anti-apartheid activist,member of uMkhonto weSizwe,and president of the African National Congress (ANC) from 2007 to 2017.
Knowledge Malusi Nkanyezi Gigaba is a South African politician who served as Minister of Home Affairs of the Republic of South Africa appointed by President Cyril Ramaphosa from 27 February 2018 until his resignation on 13 November 2018. He also held the post from 25 May 2014 to 31 March 2017 as appointed by former President Jacob Zuma. He previously served as Deputy Minister of Home Affairs,Minister of Public Enterprises and Minister of Finance in the government of South Africa. He is currently a member of the National Executive Committee of the African National Congress.
Corruption in South Africa includes the improper use of public resources for private ends,including bribery and improper favouritism. Corruption was at its highest during the period of state capture under the presidency of Jacob Zuma and has remained widespread,negatively "affecting criminal justice,service provision,economic opportunity,social cohesion and political integrity" in South Africa.
Barbara Anne Hogan is a former Minister of Health and of Public Enterprises in the Cabinet of South Africa.
The Government Communication and Information System (GCIS) is a department of the South African government charged with coordinating,managing,and advising on all government communication with the public,including media liaison. It is a unit in the Office of the President and falls under the political authority of the Minister in the Presidency. The head of GCIS is the director-general of the department and the official spokesperson of the South African government.
Nomvula Paula Mokonyane is a South African politician who is currently the First Deputy Secretary-General of the African National Congress (ANC). She was the first female Premier of Gauteng from 2009 to 2014 and subsequently served in the national government as Minister of Water and Sanitation from 2014 to 2018,Minister of Communications in 2018,and Minister of Environmental Affairs from 2018 to 2019.
Pravin Jamnadas Gordhan was a South African politician and anti-apartheid activist who held various ministerial posts in the Cabinet of South Africa. He served as Minister of Finance from 2009 until 2014,and again from 2015 until 2017,as Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs from 2014 until 2015,and as Minister of Public Enterprises from February 2018 until June 2024,when the entire Department of Public Enterprises and its ministry were abolished following the 2024 general elections.
Sicelo Shiceka was a South African politician who served as Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs from May 2009 until his death in April 2012. Before that,he was the Minister of Provincial and Local Government from September 2008 and May 2009. Throughout his service in the cabinet,he represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the National Assembly.
Sisi Virginia Khampepe is a retired South African judge who served in the Constitutional Court of South Africa between October 2009 and October 2021. Formerly a prominent labour lawyer,she joined the bench in December 2000 as a judge of the Transvaal Provincial Division. She was also a member of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
ANN7,later renamed to Afro Worldview,was a 24-hour satellite TV news channel that operated from August 2013 to August 2018 in South Africa. It was established and owned by the Gupta family. The channel was broadcast on the DStv satellite television service owned by Multichoice.
Azwihangwisi Faith Muthambi is a South African politician who represents the African National Congress (ANC) in the National Assembly of South Africa. She was formerly the Minister of Public Service and Administration and Minister of Communications under President Jacob Zuma. She returned to the National Assembly in June 2024 after serving a prior stint in her seat between 2009 and 2022.
Mcebisi Hubert Jonas is a South African politician and businessman who was the Deputy Minister of Finance of South Africa between May 2014 and March 2017. He is best known as a state capture whistleblower. In 2016,he publicly alleged that the Gupta brothers had offered him the post of finance minister under President Jacob Zuma.
The Gupta family is a wealthy and influential business family from India,with close ties to former South African President Jacob Zuma and his administration. The family's most notable members are the brothers Ajay,Atul,and Rajesh "Tony" Gupta—as well as Atul's nephews Varun,and US-based Ashish and Amol.
Ayanda Dlodlo is a South African politician and former cabinet minister. A former member of Umkhonto we Sizwe,she became a Member of Parliament for the African National Congress (ANC) in 2009. Thereafter,she was appointed Minister of Communications (2017),Minister of Home Affairs (2017–2018),Minister of Public Service and Administration,and Minister of State Security (2019–2021).
Brian Molefe is a South African businessman and business executive. Molefe rose to prominence during his tenure as the CEO of the Public Investment Corporation,heading the secretariat as CEO at the beginning of the corporatisation of the PIC in 2003 through 2010,leaving the organisation with assets under management of R900bn at the expiry of this contract. He was previously a political activist and politician. He is best known for his roles as the CEO of the Public Investment Corporation,CEO of Transnet and Eskom. On 29 August 2022,Molefe was arrested on corruption charges linked to a R93-million corruption and fraud case into the purchase of locomotives for Transnet.
The African Transformation Movement (ATM) is a political party in South Africa. It is led by Vuyolwethu Zungula,leader and party president. It was formed with the backing of the South African Council of Messianic Churches in Christ (SACMCC),which together are supported by millions of congregants.
The Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture,Corruption and Fraud in the Public Sector including Organs of State,better known as the Zondo Commission or State Capture Commission,was a public inquiry established in January 2018 by former President Jacob Zuma to investigate allegations of state capture,corruption,and fraud in the public sector in South Africa.
Mxolisi Abraham Dukwana is a South African politician who has served as the speaker of the Free State Provincial Legislature since June 2024. He was elected Provincial Chairperson of the Free State branch of his political party,the African National Congress (ANC),in January 2023. He was the seventh Premier of the Free State from February 2023 until June 2024. Prior to his election as Premier,he served in the Free State Executive Council as Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs since October 2021.
Mzwanele Manyi is a South African businessman,political figure,and former government spokesperson. He has played significant roles in both the private and public sectors. Manyi gained attention for his leadership in the Black Management Forum (BMF),where he advocated for the advancement of black professionals in South Africa’s corporate world. He is also known for his work in transformation policies that promote Black Economic Empowerment (BEE).