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28 June 2024 | Story Carmenita Redcliffe-Paul
Global Citizen Invitation Prof Thuli Madonsela 4 July 2024

The University of the Free State (UFS) and the South African Chamber of Commerce United Kingdom (SACC UK) are pleased to present a Global Citizen Series conversation, South Africa’s Future in Focus: the post-election impact on social justice, service delivery, higher education, and the economy, from the perspective of Prof Thuli Madonsela, Director of the Centre for Social Justice in the Faculty of Law at Stellenbosch University and Professor of Law in the Law Trust Research Chair in Social Justice Studies.

As part of the Global Citizen Webinar Series, Prof Madonsela – a member of the International Anticorruption Advisory Council and Global Justice Leaders – will join UFS Vice-Chancellor and Principal, Prof Francis Petersen, and SACC UK Chairperson, Sharon Constançon, for a conversation that explores what the future holds for social justice, service delivery, higher education, and the economy in South Africa.

After thirty years of democracy, South Africans once again made their mark on 29 May 2024 in one of the most pivotal elections since 1994. Join us in person during the Free State Arts Festival or online as we explore South Africa’s Future in Focus: The post-election impact on social justice, service delivery, higher education, and the economy.

Date: Thursday 4 July 2024
In-person event SA time: 18:00-20:00 SAST, Centenary Complex, UFS Bloemfontein Campus
Webinar SA time: 18:30-19:30 / UK time: 17:30-18:30

The livestream link will be shared with those who RSVP

Enquiries: Tebello Leputla - leputlatb@ufs.ac.za +27 51 401 3966

About Prof Thuli Madontsela

Prof Thuli (Thulisile) Madonsela is the Director of the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) in the Faculty of Law at Stellenbosch University and Professor of Law in the Law Trust Research Chair in Social Justice Studies. She is the founder of the Thuma Foundation for Democracy Leadership and Literacy and a member of the African Academy of Sciences. She was recently appointed to the UN Scientific Advisory Board and as Chairperson of Cities Alliance. She is a member of the International Anticorruption Advisory Council and Global Justice Leaders.

The former Public Protector of South Africa and full-time Commissioner in the South African Law Reform Commission was one of the 11 technical experts who helped draft the South African Constitution, and is a co-architect of several constitutionally mandated laws, including the Equality Act, Employment Equity Act, and the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act. She has an extensive background in applied constitutional, social justice, and administrative law principles, mainly based on her years of public service and her investigation of improper conduct in state affairs as Public Protector. A regular sought-after keynote speaker, Prof Madonsela has written, taught, presented papers, and published on these matters and ethical leadership, good governance, and gender mainstreaming for decades.

Prof Madonsela helped draft several international human rights instruments at UN, AU, and SADC levels, as well as country reports on such matters. She currently teaches Constitutional Law, Social Justice Law, Administrative Law, and Constitutional Governance and Ethical Leadership. She holds eight honorary law doctorates, in addition to two law degrees, a Harvard Advanced Leadership Certificate, and other postgraduate qualifications.

Named one of Time’s 100 most influential people in the world in 2014, Prof Madonsela’s global recognition includes more than 70 awards, including Rotary’s Paul Harris award, the Commonwealth Lawyers Truth and Justice award, and the global ACFE’s Cressy award. Prof Madonsela is a mother of two, a philanthropist, and an avid mountaineer who has summited Mt Kilimanjaro twice under the #Trek4Mandela-#Caring4Girls anti-period poverty campaign and the Musa Plan for Social Justice, and regularly hikes for the #Action4Inclusion campaign, a quest to end student debt.

News Archive

Ecofeminism a possibe solution to impending famine
2016-05-12

Description: Ecofeminism Tags: Ecofeminism

Dr Inge Konik (right) is pictured with her postdoctoral supervisor, Prof Bert Olivier, Senior Research Professor at the Department of Philosophy.
Photo: Valentino Ndaba

In view of the environmental and social problems faced in South Africa today, researchers such as Dr Inge Konik are hard at work mapping these issues and seeking long-term solutions. Dr Konik,  a lecturer in the Department of Journalism, Media and Philosophy at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) shared her views in a presentation on 6 May 2016. She spoke about revaluing indigenous ways of life and subsistence-focused lifeways, linking this to materialist ecological feminism, or ecofeminism for short.

Dr. Konik’s presentation, hosted by the Department of Philosophy at the Bloemfontein Campus of the University of the Free State (UFS), was entitled: “Transversal reflections on ecological feminism and ubuntu.” The research underpinning the presentation derived from Dr Konik’s doctoral thesis which was supervised by Ariel Salleh (University of Sydney) and Andrea Hurst (NMMU).

Dr Konik’s research suggests that ecofeminism - which is a convergence between environmentalism and feminism - may hold the answers to the question of how we may work against environmental and social injustices. She also proposed that society look back toward subsistence communities of the past, and those currently being marginalized in our industrial societies, and linked the values evidenced in the practices of these communities to the African philosophty of ubuntu. In order to solve  complex contemporary challenges Dr Konik suggests that we combine these seemingly disparate theoretical frames - ubuntu and ecofeminism - by applying a transversal approach, which involves openness to dialogue  between traditions.

“My focus was on ecological feminism and critical theory and very specifically on South Africa, given the challeges South Africa faces - the environmental and social challenges and what kind of frameworks would be helpful,” said Dr Konik, who will officially become a postdoctoral research fellow at the department as of July 2016.

Prof Pieter Duvenage, Head of the Departement, stated that compelling research outputs are anticipated from Dr Konik as a fellow.

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