Ms. Thulisile (Thuli) Nomkhosi Madonsela is a human rights lawyer, equality expert, constitutional analyst and policy specialist who holds a BA Law (UNISWA, 1987) and LLB (Wits, 1990). In 1994, she was awarded a Harvard Scholarship to pursue an LLM degree but forfeited the opportunity in favour of her constitution drafting work. In addition to partial LLM studies at the University of Pretoria and the University of the Witwatersrand, her post graduate and vocational training has included Constitutional Analysis and Litigation, Human Rights, Legal Drafting, Equality and Non-discrimination (focusing on race, gender, disability, social context awareness and diversity management), Strategic Planning, Scenario Planning, Project Management, Leadership and Management Development, Governance and Adult Education. She is also a professionally trained mediator, arbitrator, negotiator, trainer and assessor.
Ms. Madonsela is a full-time Commissioner in the South African Law Reform Commission (SALRC). She left the public service at the rank of Deputy Director General in 2003 to start and manage the Waweth Law and Policy Research Agency while serving as the Executive Chairperson of the Centre for Reconciliation and Equality Studies (CRES). Her work as Full-time Commissioner involves supervising the entire programme of the SA Law Reform Commission, liaison with stakeholders and serving as Project Leader for several projects.
Her key current projects include Project 25(Updating and Constitutional Alignment of all SA Statutes), Review of the Interpretation Act and Adult Prostitution. Her relationship with the SALRC dates back to her membership of the Project Committee on Harmonisation of Indigenous Law in the early nineties.
Ms. Madonsela was one of the11 Technical Experts appointed to assist the Constitutional Assembly in drafting South Africa’s new Constitution (1994-5). She was also a member of a Task Team that prepared constitutional inputs for the Gauteng Province of the ANC. She presented the final document at the ANC Gauteng Constitutional Conference in March 1995.
She served on the Task Team that drafted the Local Government Transition Act (1993-4) and the one that drafted the Employment Equity Act and Green Paper on Employment Equity. (1995-7). She is co-architect of the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act(Equality Act) and also project managed the drafting process, including taking the Act through Parliament. She contributed to the early version of the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act and to the Recognition of Customary Marriages Act (1998), the stillborn Customary Law of Succession Amendment Bill (1998). She prepared a legal opinion that unlocked the passing of the Repeal of the Black Administration Act (2006). She has participated in the drafting of several regulations and Codes of Good Practice under the Employment Equity Act and regulations under the Equality Act. As a Member of a Judicial Transformation Task Team she contributed to the early draft of the Judicial Service Amendment Act, 2008, the Judicial Education Institute Act, 2008 and negotiations with the leadership of the judiciary on these and related matters.
She is the co-architect and coordinated the drafting of Justice Vision 2000, the first comprehensive strategic plan for transforming the justice system and state legal services (1997). She initially led the drafting of the Victim’s Charter (until 2001) and authored the preamble to the final draft. She is one of the core drafters of the Legal Services Charter (2005-7) the National Plan of Action on Human Rights (1998) and National Declaration on Racism (2000). She coordinated a departmental Batho Pele Process that culminated in a Draft Customer Service Charter She served in Task Teams that drafted the National Gender Policy Framework, the Gender Policy Statement of the Department of Justice and the initial Employment Equity Policy of the Department of Justice. In recent years she has coordinated and participated in the drafting of Integrated Human Resources Policies, Gender Policies and Strategies for various government departments and organizations.
She has represented the country in and participated as a drafter and negotiator in various international forums, including the Beijing + 5 Conference (New York 2000), Beijing+10 Conference (New York 2005) and World Conference against Racism & Related Intolerances (WCAR, Geneva and Durban 2001). She was a member of the Substance and Preparatory Committees on WCAR and participated in the drafting of the outcomes document. She co-drafted and chaired the session of SADC Ministers of Justice and Women Affairs that adopted the SADC Addendum on the Prevention and Eradication of Violence against Women and Children (1998). She recently served in AU processes that drafted the AU Gender Policy. She has been a core drafter of various international Country Reports, including the Convention on the elimination of All Forms of Racial discrimination (CERD), Convention on the elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), Convention of the Rights of The Child, Copenhagen Declaration on Social Integration, African Charter on Human and People’s Rights and the SADC Declaration on Gender and Development.
She was a member of an EU Team that evaluated the impact of apartheid human rights funding and needs of the new democracy (1995), a UN Team that conducted a Human Rights Needs Assessment in 14 SADC countries (2002) and another that prepared a Common Country Assessment Report for South Africa (2006). She co-led a Justice delegation (MPs, Judicial Officers and Management) on a study tour on best practices in the administration of justice covering the USA, Jamaica, Chile, Bolivia and Brazil (1996).) She accompanied the Minister of Justice on a similar study to several states in Germany (1998) and co-led a study tour on equality and antidiscrimination law and the judiciary to Australia (2001)
A prolific writer and author, Thuli Madonsela conceptualized, co-drafted and directed the drafting of a Bench Book for Equality Courts, a Resource book for Equality Court Clerks (2002) and a Legal Advice Handbook on Family Law and Related Matters. She has authored a number of books, book-chapters, articles, papers, ministerial speeches and reports. She also provides legal advice and capacity building on various aspects of the law and policy focusing on justice and public sector transformation.
A former Chief Director: Transformation and Equity and Deputy Executive Director of the Planning Unit in the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development, Thuli Madonsela was a member of the inaugural Commission on Employment Equity (1999-2004). She chaired the Equality Legislation Implementation Team which coordinated the implementation of the Equality Act until 2001, when she became Project Manager for the Equality Legislation Education Unit for judicial education. Until recently, she was a member of the Legal Services Charter Steering Committee, a member of the Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action Board of the Department of Defence and a Member of the Justice Ministerial Task Team on the Transformation of the Judiciary. She also served as Chairperson of the SA Labour Development Trust, a project of COSATU, NACTU and FEDUSA (1999-2003), a Board Member of SERVCON Housing Solutions and a Member of the Black Empowerment Advisory Board of the Department of Public Works. She is a member of the National Forum against Racism, the South African Human Rights Commission Section 5 Committee on Equality and has been a member of various transformation task teams. A founder member and member of the Interim National Executive of the South African Women Lawyers (SAWLA), she now serves in the Gauteng Chapter Executive and was instrumental in the formation of the International Association of Women Judges (IAWJ).
In early 2009, Ms. Madonsela lead a task team of the Office of the Status of Women in the Presidency to prepare a discussion document for the incoming Cabinet on the Proposed Women’s Ministry. SAWID takes great pleasure in nominating Ms. Madonsela for the position of Public Protector, convinced that her immense experience and knowledge will uniquely qualify her for the role of South African Public Protector.
Source: ANC
No comments:
Post a Comment