Thuli Madonsela

Thulisile “Thuli” Nomkhosi Madonsela was born in Johannesburg in 1962. She obtained a Bachelor of Law from the University of Swaziland in 1987, an LLB at Wits University, and a Harvard Advanced Leadership Certificate. In 1994, Thuli was involved in drafting the new Constitution and was appointed as the Public Protector for South Africa in 2009. She is the founder of the Thuma Foundation, which advances democracy leadership and literacy. She’s currently a Social Justice M-Plan to speed up social justice in our country. In August 2020, as part of a national Women’s Month celebration, Advocate Natasha Potgieter of the Bible Society South Africa spoke to Professor, Advocate, and former Public Protector Thuli Madonsela. She shared a powerful message on justice for women through the lens of the Bible. This article shares extracts and highlights from this full message.

What a wonderful privilege to talk to you about Social Justice for women through the lens of the Bible. It is the right time to engage in this conversation as we live in very uncertain times. We have just celebrated Women’s Month, this is the time when we celebrate the bravery of women from all walks of life. What is often not said about the powerful women of 1956, who undertook a march of 20 000 women in South Africa, is that they were not from any political party. They were women from multiple areas of life. This group transcended class – they were rich, they were poor, and they were middle class women. It also transcended race – the leaders of the march were Helen Joseph, who is white; Rahima Moosa, who is Indian; Sophia Williams (Williams De Bruyn), classified as