Tshenkeng steps up as new Rivonia Circle chair

Lorato Tshenkeng has been appointed the new chairperson of political think-tank, Rivonia Circle.

This follows the departure of author and communications expert Songezo Zibi, who co-founded the non-profit company in 2022 with late Luzuko Koti, Tshenkeng and other board members, has left to pursue other interests.

Tshenkeng has had a long and diverse career which started off as an SA Air Force weather observer before being appointed air traffic controller.

He also worked at SA Airways both in the operations and corporate communications for two years before moving on to become one of the founding members of the Congress of the People (Cope).

“When Thabo Mbeki was fired [as president of SA, by his party ANC], I started a website called Friends of Democracy protesting the firing but also because there were many conversations happening around his firing and what that moment meant for democracy and SA,” Tshenkeng said.

“Seemingly it was a nice coup to put it bluntly and it was through that action I was one of the initial people who became founding members of Cope. That movement, even before it was announced I had been part of it for a while. I worked with [Bishop] Mvume Dandala who was the parliamentary leader of Cope in 2009 as his communications advisor until he left in March 2010,” Tshenkeng said.

Two years after that, Tshenkeng founded his own firm, Decode Communications, through which he provides his services as reputation management and crisis communication strategist

On founding Rivonia Circle, Tshenkeng said himself, Zibi, Koti and political analyst Lukhona Mnguni who assumed his role of acting executive director had known each other for a long time and all four of them had a passion and a desire to see a better country for not only their children but all citizens.

“All four of us had been writing for various publications and we decided seemingly that it was not good enough because up until 2020 with the deepening crisis in the country we thought it’s not good enough to write opinion pieces but we ought to do more,” Tshenkeng said.

He said the first year as the start-up was “enthralling and challenging” particularly after having openly declared it was a political think-tank.

“The challenge, I think Songezo [Zibi] managed exceptionally well with his leadership was to change the scepticism around role of NGOs funding and whose interests are you serving.”

According to Tshenkeng, the new leadership signals a continuation of the vision that was set at the founding of the Rivonia Circle.

“The leadership that is announced today includes a group of South Africans who are committed to redefining the political fortunes of our country through crafting new pathways to political change and participating in conversations that seek to create SA 2.0.

“We are grateful to Songezo for the role he has played in assisting to set up this organisation and in defining its character, role, and profile. We applaud Songezo for his patriotism and commitment to dedicating this phase of his life towards securing a future government that delivers better outcomes for South Africans, their families, communities, and children.”