A last tilt for Madonsela

THULI Madonsela has done more than anyone before her to breathe life into the office of the public protector as the clock winds down on her incredible tenure at what was once a sinecure but has since become a true voice for the voiceless.

Most ordinary observers would have been forgiven for expecting her to spend what time she had left basking in what she’s achieved, tidying up her files, packing up her office and dusting off her CV to send out to her next prospective employer.

Advocate Thulisile Madonsela is no ordinary person; she’s certainly been no ordinary public protector.

Her final gift to herself – and us – will be to work at breakneck speed to get to the bottom of her report into state capture, by subpoenaing a raft of cabinet ministers (and their deputies) no less to probe their financial interests to ensure that they serve at the behest of the constitution rather than in the pockets of well-connected tenderpreneurs.

The issue of state capture has come, tragically, to define post-apartheid South Africa in its 22nd year even more than the failed aspirations of a generation of born-frees who feel fettered by lost opportunities in a country that still does not feel theirs.

Madonsela’s work, speaking truth to power, afflicting the comfortable and comforting the afflicted, does as much for them, this lost generation, as it does for the rest of us, who often lie awake in the wee hours fearing that our birthright may have been sold for a proverbial mess of potage.

Madonsela will leave her predecessor a giant pair of shoes to fill and the rest of us a gaping void in the body politic when she leaves office, but until then she will spend every last minute trying to get to the bottom of this spectre which looms so large over every aspect of the rainbow nation.