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Thuli Madonsela on paying it forward: Without the help of strangers, my education would've ended at grade 10

Kyle Zeeman Digital Editor
Former public protector Thuli Madonsela is helping those with student debt.
Former public protector Thuli Madonsela is helping those with student debt.
Image: Gallo Images/Darren Stewart

Former public protector Thuli Madonsela has defended her decision to help raise funds for students struggling to pay their way through university, saying she is simply paying forward assistance she received while in school.

Madonsela recently scaled Table Mountain with Stellenbosch University student representative council (SRC) chairperson Xola Njengele and others for the #Action4Inclusion Campaign, a student funding initiative established earlier this year by the SRC and Madonsela.

She and Njengele will also lead a walkathon this weekend in Idas Valley, Stellenbosch.

Posting about the walk this week, Madonsela said she was asked why she had started the initiative, and responded that it was about paying it forward.

"People ask, 'Why do you do this?' I say, 'Why not?' It’s about paying it forward or passing on grace."

Madonsela is a law professor at the university but said her education would have "ended at grade 10" without the help of strangers. She hoped to do the same for others who are in need.