'Surfacing Critical Concerns During South Africa's Journey Towards Social Justice'

Background

Professor Thulisile “Thuli” Madonsela is the Law Faculty Trust Chair for Social Justice and Law Professor at the University of Stellenbosch, where she conducts and coordinates social justice research and she teaches constitutional and administrative law. She is also the founder of the Thuma Foundation, an independent democracy leadership and literacy social enterprise.
An Advocate of the High Court of South Africa, Prof Thuli Madonsela has been a lifelong activist on social justice, constitutionalism, human rights, good governance and the rule of law. Named one of TIME100’s most influential people in the world, in 2014 and Forbes Africa Person of the Year 2016, Prof Thuli Madonsela is one of the drafters of South Africa’s Constitution and co-architect of several laws that have sought to anchor South Africa’s democracy. Among laws, she helped draft, are the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act, the Employment Equity Act and the Recognition of Customary Marriages Act.

Having established a globally recognised track record as an ethical and integrity-driven public official, Thuli Madonsela confirmed in 2016 that she would be taking up the position of Chair of Social Justice at the Law Faculty at Stellenbosch University from January 2018. This groundbreaking new role harnesses the high level of respect that Madonsela commands, positioning her to influence the broader discourse in South Africa around social justice, poverty, corruption, good governance and clean administration. Madonsela served as the Public Protector of South Africa from 19 October 2009 to 14 October 2016. During this period, she investigated complaints regarding public spending on Zuma's private homestead, Nkandla, ending her career as Public Protector with a detailed and hard-hitting report on state capture. Madonsela has a long history in the field of social justice, having been part of the 1996 team that drafted the final Constitution of South Africa. She has been recognised through numerous global awards. One of these was the Tällberg Foundation’s identification of her, in 2016, as one of the ‘five extraordinary women who are responding to leadership challenges of the 21st century’. The Tällberg Foundation is an independent, non-partisan, non-profit education organisation that seeks to stimulate people to think differently about global issues that are shaping their present and their future.

Throughout the presentation Professor Madonsela will explore the following questions:

What does social justice mean at this point in the life of South Africa?

How has social justice been used as an empowering tool in South Africa, and how has it's focus changed over the past 25 years?

What has given rise to these changes?

What are the key challenges facing South Africa at this point, and how can social justice be used to address these challenges?

What part can the legal system play in ensuring social justice is achieved? And how can social justice victories in South Africa serve as beacons of hope and inspiration in other parts of the world?

Find more information on the work of Professor Thuli Madonsela here

Due to circumstances relating to COVID-19 this event has been postponed until further notice.

To RSVP for this event please contact the Law School lawevent at tcd.ie