Thuli off to Harvard for a year

Former public protector Thuli Madonsela flew out of South Africa this week to begin a year-long fellowship at Harvard University.

"It's so exciting to be in a learning environment again, particularly with like-minded successful people who want to be a force for good in our troubled world," Madonsela told the Sunday Times shortly after she touched down in the US on Thursday.

"South Africans must know we are highly regarded and seen as a beacon of hope in achieving peaceful coexistence for groups of diverse ethnic origin and colour. For us, we know we are not there yet but are getting there."

Madonsela, who finished her term as public protector in October last year, said she had chosen to focus on the issue of social justice during her fellowship, "focusing on reducing inequality and poverty while fostering social cohesion in a diverse and historically polarised society".

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She said the study would benefit her work at Stellenbosch University, where she will launch a centre for social justice next year on her return to South Africa.

"I'm ecstatic to be where I am. I am particularly grateful that I finished my term [as public protector] on top regarding the integrity of the work my team and I did.

"However, sometimes I do miss helping the Gogo Dlaminis with administrative justice. I also miss playing a direct role in cleaning up the system to promote ethical governance and ultimately good governance and the rule of law."

Madonsela said she had "accidentally stumbled" onto the Harvard Advanced Leadership Initiative.

"I casually shared news with a friend that Oxford University had invited me to come and teach for a year. She thought teaching at Oxford would be rather taxing after my work as the public protector and recommended [the Harvard programme]. She reminded me that it was the same reason I was not plunging straight into my job at Stellenbosch."

Madonsela is already scheduled to give lectures at universities in the US, Germany and the UK.

Madonsela's children, Wantu and Wenzi, will remain in South Africa while she is in the US, as they are at university here.

Asked what had changed for her, personally, since her tenure as public protector ended, Madonsela said she had read a book that "changed me significantly".

"Had I read Martha Beck's book The Four-Day Win earlier, I would have managed team members struggling with complex tasks better, by dividing tasks into manageable bites," she said.

Madonsela said South Africa was in need of leaders who were national builders, at all levels of society.

"It needs people who call out leaders who deviate from the path of building a united nation where everyone's potential is freed and lives improved. The people must call out leaders who do not walk their talk on matters of ethics, anti-corruption and general good governance."