Faizel Patel – 09/08/2021
Former public protector Professor Thuli Madonsela says there is a lot more opportunities for women today than in previous years.
Madonsela was speaking to Radio Islam on Monday as the country celebrated Women’s Day.
The days marks 65 years since the historic 1956 march to the Union Buildings in Pretoria, demanding that then-prime minister JG Strijdom revoke the pass laws.
Madonsela is no stranger to standing up for what is right.
Last month she participated in the Trek4Mandela2021, summitting Mount Kilimanjaro to raise funds for the Imbumba Foundation’s Caring4Girls initiative
Madonsela says while there has been some change for women in South Africa, the struggle for many women and girls continue as they fight for their human rights and wellbeing on a daily basis.
“If you think about the time of Charlotte Maxeke who died in 1938, she did her best to improve opportunities for girls through policy reform. We see 27-years into democracy, today is honestly better then yesterday, but we still have a long way to go.”
Madonsela says not all girls have a clear trajectory of where they want to be.
“Some are confronted by poverty, gender-based violence. But where we need to do more, to double-up is giving girls hope, giving them a sense of understanding that the circumstances need not be your destiny or the circumstances of your birth need not be your destiny.”
Madonsela says the Imbumba Foundation which first provided girls with sanitary pads, it now provides them with lessons in self-leadership honouring the dreams and “dreaming big”.
Listen to the interview with Professor Thuli Madonsela
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