Sydenham women have breakfast with Thuli
SYDENHAM - Hundreds of women gathered at the Sydenham Highlands North Community Centre for a morning of relaxation and inspiration with Thuli Madonsela.
Hundreds of women rose to their feet in a standing ovation to Advocate Thuli Madonsela at the Liberty Women’s fifth annual women’s breakfast on 2 November. Madonsela joined the working moms of Sydenham and wider Johannesburg for a sumptuous breakfast, before uplifting her audience with ‘A Working Mom’s Guide to Courage’.
Following words of inspiration by Estee Stern of the Sydenham community, and strong financial advice from Liberty’s Hazel Lerman, master of ceremonies and Eyewitness News editor Benita Levine introduced Madonsela as the representative of the humility, integrity and honesty that South Africa needs.
Calling on women throughout biblical and South African history, including Olive Schreiner, Charlotte Maxeke and participants in the 1956 Women’s March, Ruth First and Helen Suzman, Madonsela urged her audience to use courage, confidence and compassion to make their footprint on society, whether as home makers or as activists.
“A woman’s place is where she chooses to be,” Madonsela stressed.
Drawing on her own experience as a mother of two grown-up children, Madonsela applauded the importance of motherhood. Mothers, she said, can bring about the world they yearn for by shaping the people placed under their control, teaching them to be good human beings and placing social justice at the core of their values. Reading a letter written to her own 16-year-old self, she drew tears as she recommended her younger self to live consciously, with love, and by forgiving both herself and others.
Madonsela concluded by reflecting on South Africa’s extreme inequality, and urging women to work with the State in creating the country envisaged by our Constitution.
“It’s about creating a society where public accountability is real,” she said, adding that women can make a difference from inside, not only participating in elections, but by entering parliament, joining the public service and government think tanks, and assisting victims of social injustice to exercise their rights.
“When the time comes for us to play a role to make a difference, we have to find the courage, confidence and compassion to do what we have to do,” said Madonsela.
