Madonsela is a South African professor of law and advocate. She is the founder of Thuma Foundation, an independent democracy, literacy and leadership support organization, and chairperson of social justice at the Stellenbosch University.
Between 2009 to 2016, Thuli Madonsela served as South Africa’s Public Protector. She was among the experts who drafted the South African final constitution in 1996.
She is well known globally for highlighting the importance of social justice, democracy, and accountability to pursue peace.
Thulile Nomkhosi Madonsela Background
She was born on September 28, 1962, in Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa. Thuli Madonsela grew up in Soweto. She attended Evelyn Baring High School, Swaziland. In 1987, Thuli Madonsela earned a BA in Law from the University of Swaziland, and later in 1990, an LLB from the University of the Witwatersrand.
At some point, Thuli Madonsela was a single mother of two after the death of her husband. In July 2018, she got betrothed to Dick Foxton, a public relations consultant.
Thuli Madonsela Career
She began her career as an assistant teacher at the Evelyne Baring High School in 1980. She went back to South Africa and became an associate teacher at Naledi High School in Soweto in 1982. Two years later, she worked as a legal and education officer at Printing Wood & Allied Workers Union.
She worked for trade unions both in the public and private domain. Thuli was among the eleven professionals who drafted the final constitution of South Africa between 1994 to 1995, promulgated by former President Nelson Mandela in 1996.
President Thabo Mbeki appointed her as a full-time member of the South African Law Reform Commission in 2007. In 2009, Thuli Madonsela was appointed Public Protector of South Africa by President Jacob Zuma. The contract was a non-renewable seven-year term with unanimous support from the multi-party National Assembly. She holds a chair in social justice at Stellenbosch University from 2018 to date.
Thuli Madonsela Foundation
Thuli Madonsela is the founder and chief patron of the Thuma Foundation. The foundation focuses on an ethical leadership approach. Impactful, purposeful, and committed to service.
The belief that democracy is under a global threat and passion for it was the main drive for Thuli Madonsela to bring forth a foundation that will deal with the danger squarely. Therefore, the foundation centers on five areas, which are; advocacy, research, and training, dialogue, and accessibility.
The foundation aims at facilitating democracy dialogue to foster participation, a shared and adaptive understanding of democracy to reduce extremism. It seeks to engage in advocacy, including legal advice, to catalyze peaceful democracy deepening social change. By linking the disadvantaged groups and communities to available fruits of democracy, the foundation will foster equitable access to development services and resources.
It will also provide a research platform and output on monitoring democratic processes while contributing to the adaptive understanding of democracy to 21st-century challenges.
Lastly, it also provides civic leadership training to empower particularly young people to lead community development. This will make them ready to partake in the more significant task force of the broader democracy.
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Awards and Recognition
Time Magazine listed Thuli Madonsela among the most influential people in the world in 2014. She has also been recognized in different instances across the globe. Some of her awards include;
- 2011, South African Person of the Year, Daily Maverick
- 2013, Honorary Doctorate, University of Fort Hare
- 2014, Woman of Courage, Glamour Women of the Year
- 2014, South African of the year, ANN7
- 2014, Integrity Award, Transparency International
- 2015 – Honorary Doctor of Laws Degree LL.D, University of Stellenbosch
- 2015 – Doctor of Laws degree, LL.D. (Honoris Causa), University of Cape Town
- 2015 – Honorary Doctorate from Rhodes University
- 2015 – ACFE Africa Advocacy Award, Association of Certified Fraud Examiners
- 2016 – FW de Klerk Goodwill Award
- 2016 – African Person of the Year, Forbes
- 2016 – Truth and Justice Award, The Law Society of South Africa
- 2016 – One of the BBC’s 100 Women
- 2016 – German Africa Prize
- 2018 – Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
- 2020 – One of the 50 Most Powerful Women in Africa, Forbes Africa
Some of Her Famous Quotes
“Things look harder than they seem before you start, the middle does get messy, but if you stay on, things eventual workout.”
“Inequality is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, Inequality creates fractures, but on the other hand, Inequality undermines our ability to progress.”
“Compromising your integrity means putting everything you have ever worked for at risk.”
