And the Job Well Done Award goes to: Thuli Madonsela

Thuli Madonsela was born in Johannesburg in 1962. She grew up in Soweto, graduated with a BA in Law from the University of Swaziland in 1987 and an LLB from the University of the Witwatersrand in 1990. She began her career as a teacher in the 1980’s and later on became involved in union work (as an advisor for the National Union of Printers and Allied Workers). She was also one of the eleven technical experts who helped to draft the final constitution of South Africa in 1994/1995. Over the years she established herself as a human rights lawyer and equality expert and in October 2009 she was appointed as the Public Protector of South Africa.

In October 2012 Madonsela started investigating the possible diversion of public funds into South African President Jacob Zuma’s private property at Nkandla (in the Eastern Cape). In the same year she also investigated possible “kickbacks” received by Julius Malema in the context of traffic department contracts given to an external contractor. Her Nkandla report was published in March 2014.

Last week Thuli Madonsela was named in Time Magazine‘s annual list of the most 100 influential people in the world. The list is now in its 11th year and features scientists, philosophers, leaders, icons, artists and visionaries. Madonsela was surprised that the modest efforts of her office were not only being recognized in South Africa, but abroad as well.

She sees it as an acknowledgement of the selfless efforts of the Public Protector team at large, not just her own. She has been invited to attend the Time 100 Gala in New York today (the 29th of April 2014), where the list will be officially announced. The full list will be published in Time Magazine on the 5th of May 2014.

This is an amazing achievement and it gives me great pleasure to announce that Thuli Madonsela has been selected as the next recipient for Job Mail’s Job Well Done Award. You can follow her on Twitter via @ThuliMadonsela3.

For future Job Well Done Awards, keep your eye on the Job Mail blog or follow the #JobWellDoneSA hashtag on Twitter, Facebook  or  Google+.

Are you feeling inspired by Thuli Madonsela? Register as a Job Seeker on Job Mail today! You could find your dream job and we may even present you with an award in the future. Remember to spread the inspirational word about this by sharing it with your friends on your social networks. Sharing is caring after all.

Watch this space for regular updates for Job Seekers on the Job Mail blog.