Speaking Truth To Power

Thuli Madonsela became a household name for holding government to account, without fear or favour, during her seven-year tenure as Public Protector. We chatted to Thandeka Gqubule about writing the recently published biography, No Longer Whispering to Power.

- Anna Rich

I told people, ‘I’m going to write a book about Thuli’ – even before she agreed to it. A friend said, ‘Listen buddy, you’d better cool it because people are going to think you’re crazy.’ I said, ‘I don’t care.’

I get her. I know that political position and that human rights stance. I know that way of thinking. We’ve travelled the same road: like Thuli, I was in the Young Christian Students Association; I was in secret political movements; I was a student activist – so I thought, ‘Let me explain this thing. Let me step up.’

My husband [Moeletsi Mbeki, brother of Thabo] is a publisher but he doesn’t publish family. I’d never publish with him and he’d never publish with me. We were having lunch at the Hyatt, and Jeremy [Boraine] turned up. I went over to him and said, ‘Jeremy, you have to work with me. You have to give me a contract for Thuli’s book.’ He said, ‘That’s amazing! I’ve been looking for someone to do the Thuli book.’

Thuli knew I wasn’t going to write the conventional biography. I wanted to look at the underlying issues rather than her idiosyncrasies – whether she likes her tea with cream, that kind of thing. She was comfortable with it being my take on what her story says about our society, why South Africa produced a Thuli, and about her influence on the issues of the day.