Hon Parly Member Prof French Mbombo

25/04/2026

Celebrating the house warming ceremony of Xhamelas .

PS;
For those who don’t understand the language

Generally , with Black African cultures (even beyond SA), parents celebrate their offspring’s success through survival of childbirth complications , motherhood obstacles , child rearing practices.., some women don’t survive such .

It is common then when celebrating success of your son or daughter , the songs lean towards surviving the above : the mother could have been a maternal mortality statistic etc

Hence some songs could be (mis)interpreted as sexual

This song: “we are parents.. we should be celebrating … even whatever sexual positions we were exposed to that resulted into conception .., we celebrate the outcomes …

2. So, when you attend a son’s initiation / circumcising ceremony, or daughter’s intonjane (as is with Zulu virgins celebration etc), for mothers like me ( I have 2 biological daughter,s, 2 adopted daughters, 2 inherited daughters, 2 grand daughters), expect such explicit sexual song .

18/04/2026

LIFT as you RISE 🪜: We rise by lifting others

Reflecting as I was busy developing training material & content for courses I am teaching as guest lecturer, guest speaker etc for professionals, community leaders , government leaders , global leaders etc, I had been asked many times to share these here.

Whilst the content varies depending on what a “client” asks me to develop, but currently I am busy on leadership competencies for health professionals, with specific focus on nurse leaders & specialists medical doctors (a request from SA national health department etc), with specific focus on “politics & health”.
Specific dates of those CLOSED workshops/ classes will be shared later…
But from now on (the purpose of this post), I will share short videos to broader audience on a general info on some of the content.
(The target audience for actual courses are not for novices but for experts & luminary leadership levels for global audience. But I feel strongly, tannie Sarahs need the info , “nothing about us, without us” prevails. Thanks to civil society communities I meet at some of these international platforms… they get opportunities to present their cases… why can’t we?

18/04/2026

“It's on YOU, to get YOU , where YOU want to be”.

My current focus area: Global health , poly crises and health systems financing & role of parliamentary /political leadership on policy stability.

I had opportunities to engage with UN, WHO , EU etc . Next week I participate on sustainable immunisation financing with GAVI, Vaccine Alliance, UNITE.

This week , the IMF & World Bank spring summit meeting, Washington (which I couldn’t attend physically) , provided direction on how to deal with economic integration in a fragmenting world (will share outcomes later).

16/04/2026

SheExcells : Honoring Prof French Mbombo legacy , June 2026.

The invite 👇🏽👇🏽

“…We have watched your journey with awe. You represent the very essence of what it means to lead with purpose. We are honoring you because:
• You are a beacon: May you continue to shine your light in spaces that need it most.
• Your story matters: By sharing your truth, you give others the permission to do the same.
• Your legacy is timeless: The work of your hands is building a foundation that will inspire generations to come.
We celebrate you not just for what you have achieved, but for the calling and purpose you carry so gracefully.”🥹🙏🏾

14/04/2026

What time is it ? Office o’clock…

We take selfies when we are physically at office , more so I am only one working today 🤪….

Local government elections are around the corner … says my calendar . Let’s get to work.

10/04/2026

IMF & WORLD BANK Spring Meeting

Next week the IMF (International Monetary Fund) and World Bank Group will host their annual spring meeting in Washington, D.C., USA.

It is by invitation only as policymakers, central bankers, and private sector leaders discuss global economic growth, financial stability, geopolitics, trade, economic growth, AI, the role of the private sector in financing.

This year , the spotlight is on “Water Forward" strategy to 2030, aiming to drive jobs and prosperity etc..

I am humbled to be invited to moderate a breakout session on Water Forward at Global Parliamentary Forum. Thank you Parliamentary Network on the World Bank and IMF for the invite.

05/04/2026

Blessed Easter Sunday ….

He is Risen…. the tomb is empty…

“Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil”

04/04/2026

5km

“An athlete won't judge you for working out… a millionaire will never look down on you for starting a business, always remember: Never take criticism from someone you wouldn't go to for advice!"

02/04/2026

Happy Easter ❤️‍🩹

29/03/2026

Thank you NorthWest university & National department of health for invite to participate in this crucial programme , more so , where the country’s human resource for health system is shaken due to global health instabilities & polarisation.

Nursing leadership must be responsive as nursing is the heart, brain & face of a health system .
For those who have been selected to attend the course , please show up & show off. See you there.

“We rise by lifting others".

27/03/2026

This week I delivered speech at Patron annual dinner lecture of UCT Global Surgery Executive Leadership course .

I am the patron of this course for past 4yrs. Part of speech themed Global health insecurities, instability & polarisation, I touched on some issues including:
- America First global health policy to fund African countries . You may be aware current contracts replacing PEPFAR/ USAID funding incorporate demands from USA to access patient health information data of those countries for 25yrs (despite funding is for 5yrs)
- USA funding of Christian based health care organisations to render health services (like in Nigeria) as proxy to “exterminate” fundamentalist Islamic based ones.
- Pathogen Access & Benefit Sharing (PABS) in view of developments at World Health Organisation

- Gulf conflict & wars : impact on health & economy .
- Hospital of robots: Elon Musk idea of inventing doctor robots to replace humans to conduct certain health tasks
- Dream deferred of Africa to have own mRNA vaccines development as with the case with Biovac company , Afrigen to be liquidated. The issue of ownership in intellectual property.

Thank you UCT , specifically Prof Salome Maswime and your team for making sure the course lives beyond Africa , & remains a global dream

The Executive Leadership in Global Surgery programme has nurtured a pipeline of global surgery leaders committed to improving surgical access for vulnerable populations.

24/03/2026

STRENGTH to LEAD. INTEGRITY to GOVERN

I BRING EXPERIENCE :
as former WC health provincial minister (MEC), 2014- 2024.

Not only leading the best run provincial health system in SA… as a team (clinicians, academics, managers, technicians etc) we were ahead of the pack on information, technology , digital health and artificial intelligence, through
in house developed e-vision health strategy :

- only health department in SA developed & used unique patient ID across the platform include use of digital patient records

- only health department in SA used emergency tracking information system
- used public facing computer dashboard for COVID cases, then later dashboards for HIV/AIDs, TB, community violence prevention data

- only health department in SA to be licensed by SA aviation to fly drones as part of emergency response

- Only public health arguably in Africa initiated & used Robotic surgeries using DA Vinci robots

- Only health dept in SA lead in global green healthy hospitals to mitigate & adapt to climate change
- Only health dept in SA developed Tele-health policy for digital health usage

- Only health department arguably in developing countries introduced violence prevention unit for health to provide data to police etc to tackle crime

WHERE I AM PLANTED I GROW