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Advocate Thuli Madonsela to take up chair in social justice in SU Law Faculty
Author: Corporate Marketing/Korporatiewe Bemarking
Published: 20/10/2016

The Law Faculty at Stellenbosch University (SU) is pleased to announce that Advocate Thuli Madonsela, recently retired Public Protector of the Republic of South Africa, has accepted an offer to take up a chair in social justice in the Faculty.

Advocate Madonsela confirmed her involvement in the Faculty saying: "I am supremely honoured by the offer of the chair in social justice by Stellenbosch University. I hope to work with my colleagues at the Law Faculty to play our part in accelerating the pace of achieving the constitutional promise of an inclusive society based in social justice, shared prosperity, friendship and peace. I am also looking forward to working with young people at the university and beyond on these matters."

Prof Sonia Human, Dean of the Faculty of Law, describes the decision by Adv Madonsela to join the Faculty as a tremendous honour and one that will contribute significantly to the Faculty's continued commitment to champion the realisation of a constitutional vision for South African society.

Adv Madonsela will take up the chair in 2018, after a sabbatical.

The focus of the chair will be on issues of social justice – including administrative justice. In her new role, Adv Madonsela will be able to continue her work on those themes that became synonymous with her seven-year tenure as South Africa's third Public Protector. These include ethical governance in public institutions and realising the Constitution's mandate of a public administration that responds to people's needs, is accountable and transparent and that promotes efficient, economic and effective use of resources (as stated in section 195). As part of her remit, Adv Madonsela will not only engage in teaching and research, but will remain involved in civil society initiatives.

ABOUT THULI MADONSELA

Thulisile Nomkhosi "Thuli" Madonsela was born in Soweto and obtained the degrees BA (Law) and LLB from the universities of Swaziland and the Witwatersrand, respectively. After teaching at secondary schools for a number of years, she served in various positions in the trade union movement in the mid to late 1980s. In the 1990s she moved to higher education and worked at the University of the Witwatersrand in applied legal studies. She served as technical expert in the drafting of the Constitution before working in the Department of Justice, inter alia as Chief Director Transformation and Equity. She served as a full-time member of the South African Law Reform Commission from 2007 to 2009. In 2009 she was appointed as South Africa's third Public Protector, her term ending on 14 October 2016.

Adv Madonsela holds honorary doctorates in law from the universities of Stellenbosch, Cape Town and Fort Hare and Rhodes University. She has also been the recipient of a number of prestigious awards such as the Law Society of South Africa's inaugural Truth and Justice Award; the German Africa Foundation's annual prize; Transparency International's prestigious Integrity Award in 2014; and, also in 2014, she was listed as one of TIME Magazine's top 100 most influential people in the world.