Former public protector Thuli Madonsela called for an accountable state, equality, and an end to all forms of injustice as she delivered the 7th Ahmed Kathrada Foundation lecture in Johannesburg on Saturday.
Madonsela started by saying she was privileged to make her first public speech as “citizen Madonsela”.
Her lecture, titled “WhatMustRise”, also addressed the plight of university students excluded from studying due to lack of funding. “So if fees must fall then what should rise?” she asked.
Madonsela said that when she presented the strategic plan of her office to MPs in Parliament earlier this year she opened her speech with the story of a university student “whose dignity was undermined by maladministration” after a municipality that funded him failed to pay his tuition fees.
“I presented his story as an icebreaker, that despite gross indignity he soldiered on for the quest for tertiary education. He was told to leave the university and come back only when his fees were paid.”
“I mentioned to the MPs how this young person approached us at the office… on a Friday, informing us that the following day, on a Saturday, his classmates would sit for an important exam which if he didn’t write he would fail the year and would be excluded from university the following year.”
Several MPs had rubbished her story and said it “was a waste of time”, Madonsela said. She then went on to tell MPs about students who slept hungry and slept in toilets or libraries.
“MPs continued with their efforts to force me to drop this narrative. I told them these stories because I hoped we would establish common ground, even though we had our differences… I must say I was shocked to discover that my effort to find common ground on issues of calls by fellow human beings in distress were not welcomed.”
Madonsela said MPs who disagreed with her were from one party, while MPs from other parties pleaded with the MPs of the resisting party to let her tell the story. She didn’t name the political parties, and said the story was rejected because it was about maladministration and how this caused problems and undermined trust in the system.
She said Ahmed Kathrada and his comrades had fought for human dignity, equality, and non-racialism unselfishly. “What must rise is what uncle Kathy and his comrades fought for. What must rise is dignity, accountability, and money for our youngsters’ education. Pledge whatever you can afford and start a fund to help our youth.”
The foundation’s 2016 lecture fell on the same day the Rivonia trialists were released in 1989. Kathrada was one of those released. Madonsela’s seven-year term of office as public protector ended on Friday.
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