Mosibudi Mangena - The African Mirror

May

2023

Security is everything

THE public mood in South Africa is sombre these days, with many citizens getting that sinking feeling. On many fronts, be it economic growth, investment, employment, electricity supply or security of the person or business, the mood is not particularly sanguine. Young people, in particular, are not in a good space. Their unemployment rate is higher than most groups and those among them with good skills, are actively looking abroad for opportunities to advance their careers and rear and educate their children. So, we educate young people at great expense only to donate them to other countries. We all need…

Apr

2023

By MOSIBUDI MANGENA

South African citizens must stand up

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

ONE must join those who marvel at the intelligence and foxiness of one Thabo Bester who, with just a primary school education, has managed to have the whole country wrapped around his little finger. You have to wonder where he would have been if he used his considerable skills in a positive way. While some of his crimes are brutal and fatal, others, such as the businesses he ran from prison, including addressing conferences from “America” when he was in fact in a prison cell in Mangaung, are the very embodiment of sophistication and finesse. He even had very important…

Mar

2023

By The African Mirror

The effectiveness of the legislature in advancing constitutional democracy

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

THERE is a growing perception that the capacity of the South African state to govern the country effectively has been declining steadily and progressively in recent years. As the third component of the state, alongside the executive and the judiciary, the legislature cannot escape this assessment. MOSIBUDI MANGENA Despite this perception, it is also true that the South African state is not yet broken. It might be inching in that direction, but it is certainly not yet there. Elections have been held regularly and on time, removing any doubt as to the legality of those sitting in parliament and making…

Jan

2023

By The African Mirror

Integrity of universities is critical

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

UNIVERSITIES are hallowed spaces dedicated to a relentless search for truth, knowledge and the acquisition of skills and expertise. It stands to reason that university campuses are environments where scholars and intellectuals flex their brain powers, train the young and provide society with new knowledge and the ability to advance through know-how. MOSIBUDI MANGENA They are therefore not sites for violence and shooting of guns. Physical violence and thuggery of any description should have no place in an institution of higher learning. Not only South Africa, but the whole world must be shocked beyond words by the attempted assassination of…

Oct

2022

By The African Mirror

The shrinking feeling

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

LAST week Friday I flew to Cape Town for a meeting. I specifically requested that I be booked on SAA for two reasons: firstly because it has always been my preferred airline when I was still a working individual and wanted to see and feel how the new one is shaping up. Secondly, because it is an airline owned by all of us as South African citizens. MOSIBUDI MANGENA The thing to notice is that whereas SAA used to be the dominant space occupier at both OR Tambo in Johannesburg and Cape Town airports, it is now puny, totally dominated…

Apr

2022

By The African Mirror

Running blind folded

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

MOSIBUDI MANGENA A Cuban mathematics and science tutor who was part of a group I was working within the Department of Education, was bemused by the tendency of South Africans to call big meetings to attend to issues that should be dealt with routinely and administratively. Her observations came to mind when we saw ministers with large entourages of police running helter-skelter in Diepsloot trying to solve the problem of crime and illegal immigration. Frankly, it was embarrassing. It exposed an alarming collapse of systems and processes. That should be a routine and ongoing activity of the police and immigration…

Mar

2021

By The African Mirror

Our tertiary education in peril

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

MOSIBUDI MANGENA HERE we go again. The annual depressing spectacle of our young people having running battles with the police as they demand fee free tertiary education. The worrying fact is that, despite the longevity of the problem, there appears to be no lasting solution in sight. This year, the annual ritual has led to the tragic police shooting to death of Mthokozisi Ntumba, who was just a bystander who had no role in the protests. The truth of the matter is that the state has no money. Corruption, theft and maladministration have robbed all spheres of the state of…

Jan

2021

By The African Mirror

Petulant neighbourliness

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

MOSIBUDI MANGENA SINCE the middle of December 2020, which marks the start of the festive season, the situation at our land borders was characterised by chaos, suffering, misery and even unnecessary deaths. The visuals on our TV screens were at times too distressing to watch, especially at the Beitbridge, Lebombo and Maseru Bridge borders with Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Lesotho, respectively. To see these masses of people, most of whom are the poor, packed close to one another in snaking and almost stagnant queues in the scorching sun, is uncalled for. In the majority of cases, people had no ablution facilities,…

Dec

2020

By The African Mirror

The sun will rise

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

MOSIBUDI MANGENA AS the festive season approaches, the mood among most of us might be as gloomy and dark as a cloudy and moonless midnight. With good reason, our spirits might be down. But we also know that clouds do dissipate and the sun does inevitably come out, lifting our spirits as it shines in the sky. Although the now paused Zondo Commission is good in revealing the state of thievery and malfeasance in the country, the downside is a knock on our confidence in those that are in positions of authority. These processions of wrong-doers squirming in the hallowed…