Development Zone

 

Meet SA’s Public Protector

Thuli Madonsela is a human rights lawyer, equality expert and South Africa’s third Public Protector. She is one of eleven technical experts who assisted the Constitutional Assembly to draft South Africa’s final constitution. Time magazine recently voted Madonsela as one of the world’s most influential women. While her mandate is, by no means, not every woman’s cup of coffee, she believes all leaders have it in them to contribute to better governance.  She advises: “There are two things that we all need to do, even if it hurts us, consistency. If we are in charge of the whole organisation, we need to send a message and consistently through word and action announce that we are pro good governance and anti-corruption. In engaging corruption, I just need to make sure that I support whoever is in charge of the organisation, 200% percent. Leaders need to be conscious of that.”

 

Against All Odds 

“Having courage to maintain the struggle against overwhelming odds is an inspiration to others. But if success is not measured by what you accomplish, but by the opposition you have encountered, she is truly a force of influence,” says Farida Bedwei. Farida is the Head of the Technical Department (CTO) of Accra; Ghana based Logiciel (French for software), the company behind the successful gKudi and its range of products. A software architect with over 15 years’ experience in the development and implementation of mobile and enterprise software, she has developed payroll, human resource and other information management systems for a number of clients within Ghana and the West African sub-region as well as developed value added services and mobile applications for the major cellular network providers within Africa.

 

A Life of Learning 

Professor Carolina Koornhof, Executive Director: Finance and Business Initiatives at the University of Pretoria, has dedicated most of her working career to preparing young South African aspiring accountants for a future career in the financial field. She shares some perspectives on her career and working with the youth. According to her, people are not always aware of the important role the demographic composition of a country plays in its future development. The census conducted in 2011 revealed that South Africa has a young population, with an average age of 25. “This holds potentially a huge benefit for us. How do we make the most of this opportunity? We do so by offering our youth a world-class education, both at school and post-school level. What is also very important is that when they are in employment, we should ensure that there are ongoing opportunities for training and development,” she says.

 

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