No Longer Whispering to Power

by Thandeka Gqubule

Advocate Thuli Madonsela has achieved in her seven years as Public Protector what few accomplish in a lifetime; her legacy and contribution cannot be over-stated. In her final days in office she compiled the explosive State Capture report and, before that, the report on President Jacob Zuma's Nkandla residence. Praised and vilified in equal measures, Madonsela has frequently found herself at centre stage in the increasingly fractious South African political scene.

Yet, despite the intense media scrutiny, Madonsela remains something of an enigma. Who is this soft-spoken woman who stood up to state corruption? Where did she develop her views and resolve? This book attempts to answer these questions, and others, by exploring many aspects of Madonsela's life: her childhood years and family, her involvement in student politics, her contribution to the constitution, her life in law.

Madonsela once described her role as Public Protector as being akin to that of the Venda traditional spiritual female leader, the Makhadzi, who whispers truth to the ruler. When the sounds of the exchanges between the ruler and the Makhadzi grow loud, Madonsela said, that is when the whispering has failed.

No Longer Whispering to Power is about Thuli Madonsela's tenure as Public Protector, during which the whisper grew into a cry. It is the story of the South African people's attempt to hold power to account through the Office of the Public Protector. More significantly, this important book stands as a record of the crucial work

Genres: Nonfiction, South Africa

254 pages, Paperback

First published April 26, 2017

Reviews

[Mpho Bernadette · Rating 1 out of 5]

I actually abandoned the book. To say it was disappointing was an understatement. Thuli should have asked Redi Thlabi to write it. I needed a thesaurus to try and read it and then also had to navigate through lessons on pointless idioms that really should not have been there in the first place. Waste of trees, ink, electricity and space on the shelf shame. I wanted to really get to know Thuli Madonsela and what made her. I may try to read it again at a later stage to fulfill the purpose of knowing who the remarkable subject matter is. Truly speaking, Thuli Madonsela is a phenomenal woman.

[Recato · Rating 1 out of 5]

Eish. Someone making money out of us gulible people. And gulible we are. Buying a book with Thuli's photo on the cover thinking we are going to be enlightened. But alas.

Just the cover shoud have put me of. Michiel Botha chose a very unflattering photo.

The book has a lot of wrong information throughout. A lot
of useless information and repetition galore. Clearly no proofreading was done. Just put out a cover with Thuli's photo and we gulible people will buy it.

Now 2 reviewers has said a must read for all South Africans. Clearly these 2 were smoking some heavy shit when reading this book. And Thandeka Gqubule smoked some heavy shit when writing this.

[Tammy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably the one book you should read if you've given up on believing in the dream that all freedom fighters had for South Africa. Thuli Madonsela's story is a testimony to her indomitable will, her quiet strength and her belief in making South Africa a country that holds its leaders accountable for their actions.

In an interview with the author of this book, I've called Thuli a rebel, makhadzi and fearless in the face of government resistance - and having read this, I stand by my stance even more. A must-read for every South African!

[Thokozani · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book for every South African to read. Great narration of our past struggles as a black nation and how all of this has gone to vain because of power, politics, hunger and greed.

[Vivify M · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was super disappointing to me. The perspective was not what I was expecting or hoping for. The writing style made it very hard to follow, and the audio book narration made it even harder.
At its best points this book provided a summary of the key news stories covering her tenure as public protector. What i was hoping for was more of an understanding of the person, and even her office.
Therefore the chapters which i took the most from were the one long ones focussed on each of her two primary cases. The other chapters were hard for me to follow, and seemed to meander confusingly between different cases. I often found the writing style felt pretentious.

[Cetina · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have been so looking forward to reading this book and so far i am disappointed. The author Thandeka literally uses all the words from a theosauris to seem more knowledgeable or literate . The book so far jumps all over the place referencing various other people. I want to learn about Thuli as she is an amazing woman. I will keep going and hopefully find some substance to the story of Thuli that I so desperately want to know.

[Denira Varma · Rating 1 out of 5]

Such a disappointing read. I felt that the book was poorly constructed and did little to provide insight into the remarkable woman Thuli Mandonsela is. Chapters were haphazard and some completely unrelated to Thuli Mandonsela. She is a beacon of hope for so many reasons and this book did nothing to bring her to the fore. Sad that such a promising book would leave you feeling cheated and disappointed when the subject of the book herself is so inspiring.

[Laura-Liisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Picked this book up from Joburg airport without high expectations. As foreigner I had never heard of Madonsela and my knowledge on the South African political scene was fairly limited too. That being said, I found this book an excellent read. Easy to follow, well built up. Not to mention Madonsela's story is a true inspiration to any young professional.

[Hp Ntuli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting angle in telling Thuli’s story. At first I had no idea how political active she has been in her youth. I guess it’s the pre-democracy life of any black South African to be always caught in the mix of politics . Seemed her and her brother found politics the only way to make a difference in their communities .
Pretty fascinating was her rose to the top office . There, she assumed the role of a real people protector with vigor. It was quite clearly that her involvement in struggle was motivated by the need to make a difference, the need to contribute positively to her people. In her role, she fought greed with all she had, questioned the masters that hired her and rewrote the South African history of hope and belief that all nations regardless of color can work towards a common goal. She led the South African protest for equality and transparency without compromise . Her no pain no gain attitude made her fearless to all the threats and stones thrown to her .
At the end Thandeka drives it home to me by almost asking the important question. What kind of South Africa do we all want .

[Minenhle · Rating 3 out of 5]

"...𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒖𝒔 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝒇𝒂𝒗𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒚 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒐𝒑. 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒚 𝑺𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒉 𝑨𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒏𝒔 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝑴𝒂𝒅𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒂: 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒖𝒏𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒄𝒌𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎. 𝑺𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒑𝒆𝒅 𝒖𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓."


This was a surprisingly lovely read. My first time reading a biography and I couldn't have picked a more inspirational protagonist to read about.

Although I'm not a fan of politics, I wasn't too offput when the author delved into the politics of it all. However, it was all worth it in the end to understand the the turmoil of Thuli's tenure as Public Protector. Her strength in character and resilience under pressure combined with deep compassion and grace were her defining traits and made her one of South Africa's most respected people and an inspiration to women everywhere. I really enjoyed this read.

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Essential reading for anyone who wants to understand South African politics. The author who was one of the SABC 8 covers aspects of Thuli Madonsela's life with a focus on her life in law and her final years as the Public Protector. If you have closely followed the release of the Public Protector's reports and the news there is very little which is new, but the author does give a good overview which is really helpful ahead if the state capture hearing. There lots of quotes from other books and news reports which does become a bit overkill and it does not appear that the author had any access to Thuli herself. Her writing style was good and I found the book easy to read.

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a short biography of an amazing woman, Thuli Madonsela. It focuses on how she became the strong person that she is today and a summary of her most important cases in the public protector's office. I would have happily read a far more in depth look into her life, but I am overawed by Madonsela, so I may not be the best judge of what is too much or too little. After reading this book I feel the need to wear one of those friendship-style bracelets with the letters "WWTD" (what would Thuli do?) embroidered on it. The world would be a more just and empathetic place if we all asked that question regularly.

[Jodie Posen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written by one of the SABC 8, you know this book is going to have a strong sense of justice at its core. In a difficult time in our country it is inspiring to read about those who fight for justice and sacrifice a lot to ensure the poor are heard and respected. Although many of the stories in this book have been in the 'news' it was great to follow the events from the Public Protector's reports. I also learnt more about who the complainants were (in some cases the church) and other new facts about the gross misconduct. Lets all do what we can to make our country a better place!

[Surekha Bhugeloo · Rating 5 out of 5]

"We step out in hope that a better world is possible because of our love for peace and faith in humanity's capacity to make better choices."

Thuli's story has me so inspired. All I want is to live a meaningful life, to use whatever skills I have to contribute to humanity in the best way that I can, and her story is one of encouragement on this journey.

[Dirk · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writer gives a description of the big cases Thuli tackled. I share her admiration for mrs Madonsela, who has played such an important role in recenst SA political history because of her integrity, which is so rare in politics.
However, the author does not to have enough critical distance to her friend, this weakens the book in my opinion.

[Kerry Nel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was hoping for more of a biography, though I did learn about some of Madonsela's important work- which I concede represents a big part of what she stands for, and by extension, who she is. I also appreciated learning a little more about the players in the struggle against apartheid.

[Ryan Purvis · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well written review that comes across objective and well researched. Like most South African nonfiction at the moment this is bitter sweet to read as a hero such as Thuli Madonsela (and others) can only exist with villains.

[Msa Faleni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every South African should read this...

[Njabulo · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting read. Took a while to get engaged but midway through the book it became hard to put it down.

[Lucia · Rating 5 out of 5]

For life-long learners with Politics, Philosophy and Economics background - it’s a must read.

[Sino Fihlani · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inspiring!

[VictOria Moh · Rating 3 out of 5]

I will reserve my comment for now.