Madonsela: How women can leave their imprint

TALI FRANKEL

 TALI FRANKEL

Pictured :Advocate Thuli Madonsela inspires over 300 women at Sydenham Shul.

Madonsela called on women throughout biblical and South African history, including Deborah, Esther, Yael and Olive Schreiner, Ruth First, Helen Suzman and Charlotte Maxeke, to reiterate the point that women are capable of using compassion and courage to leave their imprint on the communities around them.
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She said that as individuals and women, we were “exactly the person your Creator intended you to be”. Madonsela paid tribute to mothers and drew on her own experience of parenting two grown children. She stated that as mothers, we have the opportunity to create the world we yearn for by shaping the people placed in our immediate sphere of influence and imparting values like social justice at the core of their upbringing.

In a touching letter she wrote to her 16-year-old self, she revealed a personal glimpse into her own struggles and vulnerabilities as a teenager and advised her younger self to be comforted in the knowledge that she was “a perfect expression of G-d’s magnificence in the world” and that she would be blessed with a life where she would be loved and supported immeasurably.

Madonsela concluded her address by urging women to take active roles in shaping a society where public accountability is real. She encouraged women to consider not just taking part in elections, but also to enter Parliament, join public service and government think-tanks and finally, to assist victims of social injustice to exercise their rights.

The morning included a breakfast, followed by words of inspiration from community Rebbetzen, Estee Stern; words of financial advice from the sponsor, Liberty spokesman Hazel Lerman.