12 Things you might not have known about Thuli Madonsela

1. Her family is from Swaziland

Madonsela’s father was an informal trader and her mom a domestic worker who also worked informally as a social worker in Soweto. She was born in Johannesburg on this very day in 1962.

2. She has two degrees

She went to school in Nhlangano, Swaziland and attended the University of Swaziland where she received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in 1987. In 1990, she obtained her law degree from the University of Wits.

3. She turned down a cabinet position in 1994

Mandonsela isn’t too keen on being involved in politics. She was offered position as Member of Parliament after South Africa’s first democratic elections in 1994. Twenty years later, she also said that she would have turned down an attempted nomination from the ANC as National Assembly representative. “Politics is important but it would not be my best contribution as a human being. Doing the technical work, advising and making decisions around fairness is something I believe I do better,” she said at the time.

4. Few people know South Africa’s constitution better than her

In 1994 and 1995, Mandonsela served as one of the 11 technical experts who helped draft the country’s constitution.

5. She is involved in many other roles

She is the chairperson for the Centre for Reconciliation and Equality Studies and a member of the South African Law Reform Commission.  She is also a member of the South African Women Lawyers Association (SAWLA), as well as the Business Women’s Association of South Africa (BWASA). She has also lectured at Wits.

6. She has two children

Mandonsela has a son and a daughter, Wantu and Wenzile.

7. She works seriously tough hours

In an interview with Sunday World she said that sometimes she gets home at 22:00 or later. And then she is back up at 4am to catch up on work.

8. She doesn’t like shouting.

Again, from the interview with Sunday World she insists that there is no point raising your voice. She told the interviewer, in a whispered voice: “You know I believe when you speak like this you get the message across. People listen better than when you’re screaming and shouting.”

9. If she wasn’t an advocate…

She would be an  archaeologist.

10. While she is definitely one of the most bad ass women in the world, she doesn’t relish people’s downfall

“No normal person can celebrate the pain of other people. I’d like to believe I am not bitter and twisted…It saddens me to be the one who will come with the bad news that someone has not done things right,” she told The Daily Maverick in an interview.

She’s also not afraid to admit that she sometimes cries on the job, because many of the cases is so heart-breaking.

11. She Tweets a lot of wisdom

Amongst some of her gems: “We can achieve great things in organisations and society, if we stop worrying about who is going to get the credit or whose job is it.”

12. She wants to have a “normal” life again

Mandonsela doesn’t just deal with high-profile politicians. A lot of the work she does involves ordinary South African citizens who aren’t afraid to walk up to her and tell her their problems when she is out in the public. She told YouMagazine: “I’d like to walk into the mall and nobody knows who I am or cares and they go about their shopping.”

Also read:

9 Little struggles only South Africans will understand
13 things that non-South Africans will never understand 
Nine words British people use that mean something different to South Africans