Themba Mveli James Maseko (born 27 January 1964) is a South African businessman, former public servant, and

whistleblower Whistleblowing (also whistle-blowing or whistle blowing) is the activity of a person, often an employee, revealing information about activity within a private or public organization that is deemed illegal, immoral, illicit, unsafe, unethical or ...

who was the head of the

Government Communication and Information System The Government Communication and Information System (GCIS) is an agency of the Government of South Africa, South African government charged with coordinating, managing, and advising on all government communication with the public, including m ...

(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 The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), commonly known as Wits University or Wits, is a multi-campus Public university, public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg, South Africa. The universit ...

. 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 Several independent sectors of South African society opposed apartheid through various means, including social movements, passive resistance, and guerrilla warfare. Mass action against the ruling National Party (NP) government, coupled with So ...

, Maseko was briefly a member of the

National Assembly of South Africa The National Assembly is the directly elected house of the Parliament of South Africa, located in Cape Town, Western Cape. It consists of four hundred members who are elected every five years using a party-list proportional representation sy ...

between 1994 and 1995, representing the

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a political party in South Africa. It originated as a liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid and has governed the country since 1994, when the 1994 South African general election, fir ...

. 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 The Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) is a department of the South African government that is responsible for the organisation and administration of the civil service. It is responsible for matters including labour relations ...

in 2011.

Early life and education

Maseko was born on 27 January 1964. He matriculated in 1982 at Immaculata High School in Diepkloof, Soweto. Thereafter he attended the

(Wits), completing a BA in sociology and law in 1987 and an LLB in 1992. Later, in 2002, he completed an MBA at

De Montfort University De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) is a public university in the city of Leicester, England. It was established in accordance with the Further and Higher Education Act 1992, Further and Higher Education Act in 1992 as a degree awarding body ...

in the

Leicester, England Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

Career

While a student, Maseko was active in the students'

anti-apartheid movement The Anti-Apartheid Movement (AAM) was a British organisation that was at the centre of the international movement opposing the South African apartheid system and supporting South Africa's non-white population who were oppressed by the policies ...

, including as a member of the South African National Students Congress and the

Azanian Students' Organisation The Azanian Students Organisation (AZASO) was a student movement in South Africa founded in 1979 as a replacement for the banned South African Student Organisation (SASO). It would become the South African National Students Congress (SANSCO) in 19 ...

, and he joined the National Education Coordinating Committee (NECC) in 1990. 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 The South African Communist Party (SACP) is a communist party in South Africa. It was founded on 12 February 1921 as the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA), and tactically dissolved itself in 1950 in the face of being declared illegal by t ...

Gauteng Gauteng ( , ; Sotho-Tswana languages, Sotho-Tswana for 'place of gold'; or ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts f ...

. In the April 1994 general election, he was elected to represent the

(ANC) in the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

, the newly established lower house of the post-apartheid

Parliament of South Africa The Parliament of the Republic of South Africa is South Africa's legislature. It is located in Cape Town; the country's legislative capital city, capital. Under the present Constitution of South Africa, the bicameralism, bicameral Parliamen ...

. Maseko resigned from the National Assembly in 1995 and became

superintendent Superintendent may refer to: *Building superintendent, a manager, maintenance or repair person, custodian or janitor, especially in the United States; sometimes shortened to "super" *Prison warden or superintendent, a prison administrator *Soprin ...

-general of the Gauteng Department of Education from 1995 to 2000. 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.

National government

From February 2003 to February 2006, Maseko was the

director-general A director general, general director or director-general (plural: ''directors general'', ''general directors'', ''directors-general'', ''director generals'' or ''director-generals'') is a senior executive officer, often the chief executive officer ...

of the national Department of Public Works, then under the political leadership of Minister

Stella Sigcau Stella Nomzamo Sigcau (14 January 1937 – 7 May 2006) was a South African politician. Sigcau was also the first female Prime Minister of the bantustan of Transkei before being deposed in a military coup in 1987. After Transkei was merged int ...

. He returned briefly to the private sector until 14 June 2006, when the Cabinet approved his appointment as CEO of the

(GCIS), a position which came with the responsibilities of cabinet

spokesperson A spokesperson, spokesman, or spokeswoman is someone engaged or elected to speak on behalf of others. Duties and function In the present media-sensitive world, many organizations are increasingly likely to employ professionals who have receiv ...

. He succeeded

Joel Netshitenzhe Joel Netshitenzhe (born 21 December 1956) is a South African politician and strategist, known for his policy and communications work for the African National Congress (ANC). He served as head of communications under President Nelson Mandela (1994 ...

in the role. Initially appointed for three years, he remained in office at GCIS until 2011, a period which spanned the end of

Thabo Mbeki Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki (; born 18 June 1942) is a South African politician who served as the 2nd democratic president of South Africa from 14 June 1999 to 24 September 2008, when he resigned at the request of his party, the African National Cong ...

's presidency, the entirety of

Kgalema Motlanthe Kgalema Petrus Motlanthe (; born 19 July 1949) is a South African politician who served as the 3rd president of South Africa from 25 September 2008 to 9 May 2009, following the resignation of Thabo Mbeki. Thereafter, he was deputy president und ...

's presidency, and the first quarter of

Jacob Zuma Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma (; born 12 April 1942) 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 for ...

's presidency. Maseko's departure from GCIS, announced by Minister in the Presidency

Collins Chabane Ohm Collins Chabane (15 April 1960 – 15 March 2015) was a South African Minister of Public Service and Administration. At the age of 17, he went into exile and joined the African National Congress (ANC) underground military wing Umkhonto we ...

on 2 February 2011 and taking immediate effect, was met with the surprise of the media, which had viewed Maseko as a competent public servant. Chabane said that Maseko had "requested to be moved within government" and that Jimmy Manyi would replace him at GCIS. Upon his exit from GCIS, Maseko was transferred to become director-general of the national

. 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. 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.

Whistleblowing

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 State capture is a type of systemic political corruption in which private interests significantly influence a state's decision-making processes to their own advantage. The term was first used by the World Bank in 2000 to describe certain Central ...

. According to Maseko, the Zuma-allied Gupta brothers had repeatedly lobbied him to use public funds to place advertisements in their ''

New Age New Age is a range of Spirituality, spiritual or Religion, religious practices and beliefs that rapidly grew in Western world, Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclecticism, eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise d ...

'' newspaper. In 2018 he provided testimony in this vein to the

Zondo Commission 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 Ja ...

, which concluded in its final report that Maseko's replacement by Manyi had been calculated to facilitate state capture by the Guptas. In 2021, Maseko published a memoir titled ''For My Country: Why I Blew the Whistle on Zuma and the Guptas.'' He won a Whistleblower Award in the "Individual Whistleblower Excellence" category at Public Interest SA's inaugural Whistleblower Awards in October 2023.

Later career

On 7 August 2017,

Business Leadership South Africa Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA) is an independent association that represents the interests of major corporations in South Africa. Members include large South African companies and multinational corporations with a significant presenc ...

(BLSA) announced that Maseko had been appointed as its director of communications. 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; Maseko said that his departure was amicable. In January 2022, Maseko announced on

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

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. 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.

Other activities

Before his appointment to GCIS, Maseko was a member of the council of

Vista University Vista University, South Africa was founded by the apartheid government to ensure that urban black South Africans seeking tertiary education would be accommodated within the townships rather than on campuses reserved for other population groups. ...

and a member of the boards of the Adopt-a-School Foundation and the Centre for Public Service Innovation. In later years, he was a member of the boards of the

Nelson Mandela Foundation The Nelson Mandela Foundation is a nonprofit organisation founded by Nelson Mandela in 1999 to promote Mandela's vision of freedom and equality for all. The chairman is Naledi Pandor. And the CEO is Dr. Mbongiseni Buthelezi. Vision The visi ...

, Corruption Watch, and the

Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution The Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution (CASAC) is a South African civil society organisation that aims to promote progressive constitutionalism and the advancement of constitutional democracy. Founded in September 2010 ...

Personal life

Maseko is married and has children. He lives in

Sandton, Johannesburg Sandton is a financial, commercial and residential area, located in the northern part of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality. Formerly an independent municipality, Sandton's name came from the combination of two of its suburbs, S ...

References

External links

Professor Themba Maseko
at Wits School of Governance
2009 think piece
in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''
2021 interview
with Eusebius McKaiser {{DEFAULTSORT:Maseko, Themba Living people 1964 births 21st-century South African businesspeople African National Congress politicians Alumni of De Montfort University Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 1994–1999 Members of the South African Communist Party Press secretaries South African civil servants South African whistleblowers University of the Witwatersrand alumni