Qualifications not the only inaccuracy on Premier Thandi Modise's Profile
Qualifications were not the only inaccuracies in North West Premier Thandi Modise’s profile, the outline amongst others also stated that the Premier was jailed for 10 years in 1976.
Premier Modise had for the past two weeks been aware of a well-orchestrated and co-ordinated smear campaign aimed at discrediting her and some members of her Executive Council (Exco) ahead of the ruling party’s parliamentary list conference.
The timing of the slanderous and hypocritical article and the issues they are using confirms that “the Desperados” are behind the disinformation campaign are clutching at straws and after scraping the barrel could not find any mud that could stick.
The corruption syndicate that involves businessmen, influential politicians, government officials whose reprehensible business and financial interests is threatened by Premier Modise’s onslaught against corruption has shown its determination to at all costs have Premier Modise removed from the provincial list.
The obstruction and defiance to act against individuals fingered by investigations into fraud and corruption in municipalities and provincial government, the brazen criticism of the Provincial government’s R176 million jobs for youth expanded public works programme in this week’s Mail and Guardian newspaper and the delay to finalise investigation into the alleged irregular purchase of the state vehicle for official use by Premier Modise until the conference this weekend are but part of the intricate plot.
Though it was clarified to Africa Check’s researcher/journalist Kate Wilkinson that Premier Modise had enrolled for a Master in Economics with the London School of Economics but dropped out soon after she was appointed to chair the Joint Standing Committee on Defence and the Portfolio Committee on Defence around 2000 in order to cope with her responsibilities and increased parliamentary oversight workload, the omission of this critical point creates the impression that Premier Modise had not even studied towards this qualification.
Among other glaring omissions which were not captured in what we concede was a badly written and poorly structured profile which did not follow chronological order, include years of study and institutions at which the Premier studied is that:
Thandi Modise joined the African National Congress (ANC) in 1976 at the age of 17 and soon thereafter fled to exile to join the liberation struggle. She received military training in Tanzania and Angola where she was one of 30 women out of a total of 500 trainees where she first became political commissar and then commander.
She returned to South Africa in 1978 as an operative pointing out strategic targets for Unkhonto We Sizwe (MK). She was arrested from 1979 to 1988. At the time of her arrest she was four months pregnant, and later gave birth to a daughter at Johannesburg Hospital during her incarceration at John Vorster Square Police Station. Modise was first woman in South Africa to be jailed for military activities.
The Spokesperson for the Premier, Lesiba Kgwele has categorically denied making a statement to the effect that the inaccuracies were “little” but confirms that he had accepted that a few areas that needed to be updated were observed when he went through the profile with his principal.
Little was the spin that the researcher cum journalist chose so that it should appear as if Kgwele had trivialised the inaccuracies in the Premier’s profile.
The contribution of the Premier towards the liberation struggle during her service to the people’s liberation army, MK and the fact that she had also studied towards LLB with UNISA as uncovered by Africa Check could not have been left out by anyone who had the express intention to exaggerate her achievements and misrepresent her qualifications.
Premier Thandi Modise holds a B. Comm degree in industrial psychology and business economics which she obtained through UNISA in 1988.She studied for the qualification from her prison cell while she was serving a 10 year sentence for her activities as a freedom fighter.
She has also attended a special leadership course from the University of United Nations University in Jordan (2000) and holds Certificates in Security Studies from the Naval University in Montreal (1998/1999).
No deliberate lies or false claims were made. The initial profile could have been put together from various sources and was regarded as authentic over the years by institutions that the Premier served without suspecting its authenticity or bothering to validate its content with her.
The last of such updates that were done without consulting the Premier was after she was presented with a Special Recognition for her role in the Advancement of Peace and Women in Africa at the 2013 Inaugural African Diaspora Awards.
The inaccurate profile survived unnoticed by the Premier over the years because in her humility, she does not like lengthy introductions but prefers to be presented simply as Premier of the North West Province Thandi Modise to her audience wherever she is officiating,
In apologising for any wrong impression/s that might have been created that Premier Modise might have sought to exaggerate her achievements and misrepresent her qualifications, we wish to confirm that the updated profile has since been uploaded on the Office of the Premier and the Government Communication and Information System (GCIS) websites.
Enquiries:
Lesiba Moses Kgwele
Spokesperson
Cell: 083 629 1987
Tel: 018 388 3705
Fax: 018 388 3157
Email: LKgwele@gmail.com
