Public Protector Adv. Thuli Madonsela has urged women in Limpopo to take a leaf out of the book of religious leader, social worker and political activist Charlotte Maxeke in order to live happy and significant lives that would put them in a position to make a difference in their communities, the country and the world.
Speaking at a Women’s Day event, themed “Tapping in the Power Within”, in Polokwane during the weekend, the Public Protector referred to Maxeke as the greatest woman of her time and arguably the best woman that South Africa has ever produced. She took delegates through a journey of Maxeke’s life; from her birth in Limpopo in 1874, touring England and the United States as part of a choir, studying and obtaining a BSc Degree in the United States, starting a school in her birth place, starting a college together with her husband in Evaton, to fighting for the rights of women and advocating for justice reforms to ensure fairness to children in conflict with the law and leading the first pass law protest petitions and ultimately leading a delegation to the Prime Minister before her passing in 1939.
Like Maxeke, who was oppressed for being a woman, black and at some point not regarded a human being under the law of the government of her time, today’s women should define themselves and not allow life circumstances to define them, she said. Among the lessons the Public Protector said could be drawn from Maxeke were her strong sense of self-belief, purpose driven approach to life, forward-looking approach to life, knocking on doors, working with others and being anchored in the power that created her.
“She was spiritually grounded. She had a very strong sense of self-belief. She appears to have had a purpose-driven approach to life. If you can note what she did throughout her life, it was her passion to serve humanity and the passion to change things that she considered to be unjust. She also endlessly made representations about the condition of women,” the Public Protector said.
The Public Protector said, often, women were held back by fear of rejection, fear of failure, fear of being harmed and a fear of being seen to be “too much”. She reminded women that they stood of the shoulders of giants and that this enabled them to see clearer and further. Among these giants, who according to the Public Protector left a trail of their journey through life to be lessons for today’s women, were Maxeke, and “the 1956 four”: Lillian Ngoyi, Sophie Williams de Bryun, Rahima Moosa and Helen Joseph, as well as Queen Modjadji, Queen Mokabayi, Olive Shreiner, Albertina Sisulu, Helen Suzman, Jane Raphaelly, Marina Maponya, Pam Golding, Winnie Mandela and veteran Limpopo author Aletta Motimele, who was one of the guest speakers at the event.
The Public Protector added that even though today’s women still faced some challenges, they had plentiful opportunities as created by South Africa’s Constitution and laws, which outlaw all forms of gender discrimination, making the ground fertile for an even playing field. She noted the women attending the event were already living lives of significance and playing their part in their respective communities.
The Public Protector also denounced the notion that women don’t support one another, reasoning that when they rose, women tended to lift others. She made an example of her own journey, saying each time she rose to a position of authority, women had been instrumental in her appointment.
“My own rise to positions of power has always been orchestrated by women often without me even knowing about or aspiring for the position as was the case with the position of technical expert in the Constitution drafting process, fulltime Commissioner of the South African Law Reform Commission and Public Protector,” she said.
The Public Protector called on women not to see men but patriarchy as the enemy when it came to sexism. She urged them to learn from Maxeke, who joined forces with her husband to uplift her people through education and spiritual interventions. She said Maxeke also worked with men and women across the colour divide in pursuit of a just and inclusive South Africa.
The Public Protector concluded by calling on women to draw on Maxeke's life and lessons and the other giants who went before them to identify and open doors hiding opportunities for them to rise as leaders in all spheres thereby playing their part in lifting their communities, their province and the country and ultimately changing the world to a more just one, with greater human solidarity.
Enquiries:
Kgalalelo Masibi
Spokesperson,
Public Protector South Africa
Tel: (012) 366 7006
Mobile: 079 507 0399
Email: kgalalelom@pprotect.org
