1st South African Whistleblower, the only Whistleblower worldwide to secure jail sentences for wrongdoers, Speaker-Advocate+Trainer #Courageousconversations
United Kingdom
Joined May 2011
- Tweets26.6K
- Following4.8K
- Followers2.7K
- Likes77.8K
Wendy Addison retweeted
The ANC's adherence to the National Democratic Revolution (NDR) may help explain its declining electoral fortunes.
The NDR's pursuit of political control over all the levers of power is fundamentally at odds with the principles of our Constitution.
It has also contributed to the weakening of state institutions established to serve all South Africans.
The criminal justice system is a case in point. When institutions are compromised, corruption flourishes, organised crime takes hold and those responsible escape accountability.
Ultimately, ordinary South Africans pay the price.
Abandoning the pernicious aspects of the NDR would be an important step towards restoring constitutional governance. This must include radically renovating criminal justice administration and establishing effective, independent anti-corruption machinery to hold those responsible to account.
It would also give the ANC something meaningful to demonstrate when it talks about renewal. A lesson worth considering as it looks towards 2029.
Paul Hoffman: "The central obstacle to South Africa’s constitutional democracy is the ANC’s continued adherence to the National Democratic Revolution (NDR)—a framework prioritizing state control and cadre deployment over the rule of law, effectively fueling corruption and institutional decay."
Read here: dailyfriend.co.za/2026/11/06…
Wendy Addison retweeted
The ANC cannot credibly talk about renewal while pursuing an agenda that undermines constitutional democracy, weakens state institutions and allows corruption to flourish.
Abandoning the NDR and restoring accountability must be where renewal begins.
The ANC's adherence to the National Democratic Revolution (NDR) may help explain its declining electoral fortunes.
The NDR's pursuit of political control over all the levers of power is fundamentally at odds with the principles of our Constitution.
It has also contributed to the weakening of state institutions established to serve all South Africans.
The criminal justice system is a case in point. When institutions are compromised, corruption flourishes, organised crime takes hold and those responsible escape accountability.
Ultimately, ordinary South Africans pay the price.
Abandoning the pernicious aspects of the NDR would be an important step towards restoring constitutional governance. This must include radically renovating criminal justice administration and establishing effective, independent anti-corruption machinery to hold those responsible to account.
It would also give the ANC something meaningful to demonstrate when it talks about renewal. A lesson worth considering as it looks towards 2029.
Wendy Addison retweeted
Marcus Aurelius understood the fleeting nature of human existence when he said, “You will be forgotten either way. So live in such a manner that, while you remain, you belong to yourself.” Stop sacrificing your authenticity for the approval of people who are equally temporary. Their opinions will fade, and so will their memories of you. The real tragedy isn’t being forgotten after death, it’s living a life that was never truly yours.
Wendy Addison retweeted
Curiosity is one of a person’s most important intellectual virtues, expressed in a drive to understand the world, oneself, and the laws of existence. It is nourished by respect for truth, sustained by critical thinking, and is one of the main foundations of complete self-realization and a flourishing life.
Wendy Addison retweeted
A new Chapter Nine body could become an amalgamation of the best elements in the SIU, the Hawks, IDAC, the NPA and IPID.
It would be a great improvement on the current anti-corruption dispensation.
#Corruption
#MadlangaCommission
"The Scorpions, closed down for doing their job too well, proved to be a thorn in the side of ANC politicians."
A thorn is exactly what SA’s anti-corruption body should be.
Those who have the power to create one continually choose not to.
Voters have the power to change that.
#Corruption
#MadlangaCommission
Wendy Addison retweeted
Local government elections bring the values of the constitutional dispensation in SA into sharper focus, as voters prepare to hold politicians and their parties to account.
@PaulHoffmanSC highlights how active citizens can defend the Constitution and its values.
Paul Hoffman: "The Constitution and the rule of law are the supreme law of the Republic—politicians are legally bound by their oaths of office to uphold them, and citizens have the ballot box, Chapter Nine institutions, and the courts to enforce accountability."
Read here: dailyfriend.co.za/2026/11/03…
Wendy Addison retweeted
NOT STANDING BY: FAYE ALCOCK SPEAKS IN PARLIAMENT
Yesterday I travelled to the APPG summit in Westminster with my son and my friend Faye Alcock @TweetDreams333.
Faye had 60 seconds, and her speech was wonderful and moving. I am sharing it here word by word, exactly as she delivered it.
-----
Hello. I’m Faye Alcock, a neurodivergent whistleblower, former senior communications professional, and a former volunteer with WhistleblowersUK.
I made disclosures because I believed it was the right thing to do.
The most devastating part has not been the legal process as a litigant in person or the regulators who repeatedly fail to act.
It’s been the personal impact of speaking up.
I’ve experienced suicidal thoughts.
I fear for my safety because of the powerful individuals and organisations involved.
I’ve even been accused of a crime I did not commit by the board of a whistleblowing organisation, which includes a serving Member of Parliament who also sits on the Justice Select Committee.
No whistleblower should have to live like this.
I believe there is an overwhelming public-interest case for an independent investigation into WhistleblowersUK (WBUK), including its governance, safeguarding, accountability, and treatment of whistleblowers who sought its support.
If we’re serious about protecting whistleblower wellbeing and honouring Simon’s memory, then we need also examine other regulators, such as the SRA and ICO, and those, like WBUK who claim to represent, support, and speak for whistleblowers.
----
Faye is a great person and worth following. If you care about whistleblowers, follow her and listen to what she has to say.
Another one who is standing up, not standing by.
@stevemiddi1 @MLorrM @JohnDav79548222 @appgonifandffs @TransparencyTF @CompassnInCare @TracyAustin_ @beyondfreefall
Wendy Addison retweeted
Orwell's great observation in "Nineteen Eighty-Four" was that to shrink a person's vocabulary is to shrink his capacity to think.
An impoverished version of English removes the mental tools needed to formulate and communicate complex (and dissenting) ideas. Such is the deep, complex relationship between language and thought.
We don't read "difficult books" to say that we've read difficult books. We read them because they expand the boundaries of what we are capable of thinking and feeling — we ascend to their level. Vocabulary helps us to recognize truths otherwise beyond our grasp.
This revelation is worse than you may think. This must be reversed.
I am speechless. Thomas Aquinas College just dropped a study on the rigor of the new SAT.
It compares the 1980/87 test with 2026. The findings should terrify every parent and teacher...
Vocabulary has collapsed.
Old SAT: 70.6% of questions tested vocab.
New SAT: 15%.
The old test forced students to know a wide range of words through analogies, antonyms, and sentence completions. The new test abandoned that. Most vocab questions now just ask students to fill in one blank from context.
Reading passages also got radically shorter (average ~97 words vs 300–340).
The new test uses short expository passages and hands you the necessary background knowledge inside the text. The older tests leaned much more heavily on argumentative and persuasive writing, assumed far more historical, scientific, and cultural knowledge, and penalized students who lacked it.
This is a redefinition of what "college readiness" means.
If you believe that kids should develop rigorous vocabulary, be capable of sustained reading, and possess background knowledge, I have bad news for you. The SAT no longer measures these.
If you want a future where children can actually read difficult texts and construct complex arguments, the SAT must be replaced now.
This cannot go on.
Wendy Addison retweeted
We’re hiring a COO for Happy Doggo…
🐶 Genuinely a role that will change the world for millions of dogs.
🌎 Operations / partners in 5 countries and growing fast.
📊 Huge ops challenge to help us save even more dogs.
You can apply here or share 🙏
secure.collage.co/jobs/happy…
Wendy Addison retweeted
Many of the things that make a country rich are invisible.
You can’t see or touch property rights, the rule of law or the ease of doing business. That makes them easy to overlook.
People talk about natural resources, but pay much less attention to whether ordinary people can start and run businesses without facing senseless rules and regulations.
People are much more willing to invest when their property is protected and the same rules apply to everyone, including politicians.
If you’re afraid an official could take your land or shut down your business, you’re going to think twice before risking your savings.
A country can have plenty of natural resources and still make it hard for its people to prosper.
Wendy Addison retweeted
“Man is so intelligent that he feels impelled to invent theories to account for what happens in the world. Unfortunately, he is not quite intelligent enough, in most cases, to find correct explanations. So that when he acts on his theories, he behaves very often like a lunatic.”
― Aldous Huxley
Wendy Addison retweeted
My solidarity with Robert Aquilina. Dehumanising those who speak out has no place in public debate. Nine years after Daphne’s murder, we should have learnt how much this matters.
timesofmalta.com/article/rob…
Wendy Addison retweeted
Acting Minister of Police, Professor Firoz Cachalia, has conceded that the ANC was mistaken in its decision to disband the successful Scorpions in 2009.
It was a mistake that paved the way for State Capture and allowed rampant #corruption to thrive in South Africa.
If his new special adviser, Gareth Newham, recommends replacing the inadequate Hawks with a genuinely independent anti-corruption body, Cachalia would do well to heed that advice.
Failure to do so would call his political will to tackle corruption into question.
Wendy Addison retweeted
South Africa doesn't need to wait for more criminal convictions before acting against corruption.
Raking back the loot swiftly removes incentive and the legal authority to intervene exists.
What is needed is the institutional capacity, leadership and political will to use it.
Paul Hoffman: "To rake back loot upfront rather than at sentencing stage, years later, in a criminal case is preferable by far."
Read here: dailyfriend.co.za/2026/10/16…
Wendy Addison retweeted
what doesn't kill you introduces you to breathwork, delusional optimism, neuroplasticity, metacognition, game theory, nervous system regulation, inner child healing, gratitude, philosophy, balancing, manifestation, subconscious reprogramming, solitude, praying, pattern recognition, quantum mechanics, somatic healing, psychology, consciousness, human nature, emotional intelligence, and at least 10 different versions of yourself.
Wendy Addison retweeted
The best cure to the lack of political will to take on the corrupt by first raking back their loot is to put different politicians into the decision-making roles in government.
That is the task of registered voters.
