PowerFM’s Sebenzile Nkambule invited Onkgopotse JJ Tabane to talk about his new book, Let’s Talk Frankly: Letters to Influential South Africans About the State of Our Nation, on her early morning show, Power Up.

Tabane is one of South Africa’s leading media and communications specialists, a community activist and a business executive. Let’s Talk Frankly is an exercise in accountability, offering readers a collection of letters to the big names of South African politics, including Gwede Mantashe, Helen Zille, Julius Malema, Signal Jammer, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, Mmusi Maimane and Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma.

When asked why he chose to write letters like this, he says: “It’s very difficult to get some of these guys to account. You know, what do I do? Do I wait for Malusi Gigaba to come to my brunch before I can ask him why we are stuffing up the tourism numbers? He probably won’t come to my brunch.” The letters are not all negative, Tabane notes, and do not serve to pick a fight. He is merely saying what he feels need to be said and asking what needs to be asked in the spirit of accountability.

The book is not a compilation of his best letters, but a fresh offering of longer writings than those that we have come to know him by. In the interview, Tabane opens up about his book, his motivations behind writing it, some of the issues he tackles in it, and how it has been received.

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Book details

• Let’s Talk Frankly: Letters to Influential South Africans About the State of Our Nation by Onkgopotse JJ Tabane, illustrated by Sifiso Yalo
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  EAN: 9781770104327
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