Johannesburg - In all aspects of society, there are phenomenal women who are making a difference in the lives of those around them while also striving to new heights. This Women’s Month, The Saturday Star will be profiling some of the nation’s leading ladies.
Professor Thulisile (Thuli) Madonsela is a female icon in South Africa.
One of her famous quotes is: “Follow your heart, whatever you do. You are placing your fate and our fate in the hands of men and women who are going to govern at national and provincial level.”
Madonsela’s stint as the public protector from 2009 to 2016 saw her attempting to fight widespread corruption and wrongdoings at some of the country’s biggest institutions as well as prominent figures, including former president Jacob Zuma.
In 1996, Madonsela helped draft the final Constitution of South Africa promulgated by former president Nelson Mandela.
As a lifelong activist, Madonsela has also championed social justice, rule of law and good governance. Apart from being one of the Constitution’s drafters, she is also a co-architect of democracy promotion and protection laws, such as The Promotion of Equality.
She is widely regarded as a symbol of justice and courage and has been described as having had power that was used only for what was good and right.
Madonsela is now the Law Trust chairperson, Social Justice Research at Stellenbosch University.
Meanwhile, Madonsela spoke on 5FM’s breakfast show last week to give her thoughts on Women's Month in SA and how women can fix the country.
“Each generation has to get a sense of what are the most pressing challenges of its time and then what is’ its role in addressing those challenges, but it's also about how do we grow as an ecosystem and become resilient,” she said.
“It's about women leading the charge, and women leading the healing of the divisions of the past through advancing social inclusion, then it's also about women being the beneficiary of equality.”
She added that females should not simply demand to go into positions of power but it should also be about what they can bring to the table.
Madonsela also stressed the importance of social justice.
“I would say that social justice is the most pressing challenge in the world and as humanity, if we are not going to buried by climate change, it's going to be an in a position similar to the first world war so true equality, in real life, would require a reset,” she told the broadcaster.
Madonsela said that what she discovered during her research since her days at Harvard was that social justice is the problem.
“If you don't do anything to disrupt inequality, it grows, and that explains why South Africa has become the most unequal society in the world.”
“With social justice, it's not just social justice for black people or for women or people with disabilities, it's about creating a society of equals.”
“Nobody gets offloaded, you just make sure that you create more spaces at the table and more opportunities,” she said.