Whatever you believe is arts minister, is … Bhota Mam Lulu, “Been meaning to write to you for a while now since your dramatic promotion to handle the very complex portfolio of arts and culture for our country and the high level reinforcement through the misdeployment of the former premier of Gauteng. The two of you […]
Onkgopotse JJ Tabane
Onkgopotse JJ Tabane is Chief Executive of Oresego Holdings - International Business Advisors. He is an accredited Associate of the Institute for Independent Business International (iib). He writes here in his personal capacity.
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Onkgopotse JJ Tabane is a Media and Communications Specialist who has become a public commentator on a wide range of socio political issues over the last decade.
He has cut his teeth in both Government and Private Sector as a top communicator winning awards such as the Government Communicator of the year in 2002 and holding senior positions such as Ministerial Spokesperson for various ministers, Head of Ministry of Environmental Affairs, Communications Advisor to the Chamber of Mines Communications Vice President and General Manager at South African Airways as well as Chief Executive of Graphicor and Simeka Communications. He has also held a senior corporate affairs Job at Top Electonic Company Altron where he was in Charge of the company’s Transformation Programme and Corporate Social Investment.
When COPE was formed in 2008 Tabane quit his Corporate Job to Join COPE as their Head of Communications leading up to the 2009 General election. Until July 2010 Today amongst his many activities he was the Political Advisor to Former COPE Parliamentary Leader Dr Mvume Dandala and occasional contributor to many publications. He has also served on various boards of directors including as a member of the Gauteng Tourism Authority, Johannesburg Tourism Authority and until recently chaired the board of the Indalo Yethu Environmental Campaign.
He is still a member of the Northwest University Council where he is serving his second term. JJ Tabane is widely known for his forthright manner of debate and fearless tackling of public commentary since his student days where he was SRC President and Vice President at the Universities of the North and Western Cape where he qualified in Law and Politics. He holds a BA,( UNIN), BPROC (UWC) and Masters in Political Economy (NMMU).
He is married to Lorraine Ditshedi Tabane and has two children, Oreabetse (4) and Resego (12) after whom he has named his newly launched International Advisory Business Oresego Holdings.
Posted inNews/Politics
Why should we accept Zuma’s flaws?
Professor Sipho Seepe’s recent article in the Sowetan that morals are not necessary for leadership in politics must rank as his poorest contribution to national debate yet, obviously blinded by his well-known support for Zuma’s ascension to power. What is comforting though is that he is not even being supported by the man he is […]
Posted inMedia
West Wing tips for Zuma’s spin doctors
One of the most irksome tasks that many governments around the world loath and execute badly is how to deal with crisis communications in the face of scandal involving high-ranking politicians such as a head of state. Armchair critics of how government functions in these critical times fail to grasp the fact that no PR […]
Posted inGeneral
The death of debate in SA
The last twenty years have seen the death of intellectual debate in South Africa. In the book The Poverty of Ideas, edited by William Mervin Gumede and Leslie Dikeni, a set of authors mourn this death by tackling head on the uncomfortable issue of the “devaluation of ideas in the public sphere in post-apartheid South […]
Posted inNews/Politics
No easy answer to e.tv police saga
The harassment of e.tv journalists to produce the criminals who were part of their exposé is a direct result of the knee-jerk reaction that our crime fighting strategy has become in South Africa. Someone must have briefed the government security cluster and said that rough street justice is going to win the day. I am […]
Posted inGeneral
Zapiro shouldn’t apologise
So the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa is demanding that Zapiro apologise for drawing what so many are talking about in private: the utter abuse of state institutions, office and the Constitution. This assault on and degrading of constitutional order was highlighted by the call for a political solution to President Jacob Zuma’s […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Angie’s shameful crocodile tears
Funny thing I must say to discover that the minister of basic education is “disappointed at the matric results”. Besides sucking up to Malema during the election campaign by publicly and irresponsibly saying that matric “is not that important” she set a bad example early last year by abandoning a crucial meeting of the council […]
Posted inGeneral
Cope must be the change it wants to see in society
Enough has been said about how the first year of Cope’s existence has been a rough ride characterised by a mix of leadership difficulties as well as a sense of disorganisation at both administrative, strategic and policy levels. So how should Cope fix these obvious impediments that have made its founding year an overall disappointment […]
Posted inGeneral
It’s been a nauseating year
South Africans are an intolerant bunch of people who often look down on others and themselves. Take the stupid political rally that the welcome of hero Caster Semenya was turned into by Julius Malema earlier this year — only to find that our own Pinocchio Leornard Chuene was the fool making us all look like […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Can Cope stand the test of tough times?
A year on, a lot has been written about Cope’s fortunes. Without wanting to sound like an oracle ensconced in some seat of better wisdom, I want to argue that at the heart of the deferred dream of an alternative government is the failure of visionary, pragmatic and organised leadership within Cope. This failure is […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Mokonyane: Just another politician after all
A few months ago I wrote about Gauteng Premier Nomvula Mokonyane suspending the former director of Gauteng’s roads and transport department, Sibusiso Buthelezi. It’s been reported that a disciplinary process against Buthelezi was aborted mid-stream and that an agreement was reached. As a Gauteng citizen I am curious why such a settlement suddenly became necessary. […]
Posted inGeneral
A letter to Buti Manamela
An open-and-shut letter to Buti Manamela Dear Comrade Buti, The Young so-called Communist League is battling to remain relevant. I am making this bold statement because I know that though you may disagree with it you will understand it perfectly. Two years ago I wrote with appreciation for the work that your organisation was doing […]