Social Justice Café: A report-back

On 22 August 2019, women from academia, activist organisations and rural communities came together at a Social Justice Café to talk about “Rural democracy and women: what type of African feminism does social justice require of us?”

The café was hosted by the Land and Accountability Research Centre and Professor Thuli Madonsela’s Social Justice Chair. Panellists inlcuded Nokwanda Sihlali (a researcher at LARC), Dr. Natasha Vally (Department of Sociology, University of Cape Town), and Constance Mogale (national coordinator of the Alliance for Rural Democracy).

 

L to R: Dr. Natasha Vally; Thokozile Madonko; Professor Thuli Madonsela; Constance Mogale; Nokwanda Sihlali

Professor Thuli Madonsela giving the welcome and introductory remarks

In her introductory remarks, Professor Madonsela spoke about urban and rural women being deprived of land and financial opportunities. Professor emphasised the need for collaboration and opening up spaces for dialogue, as our country was built on dialogue.

Nokwanda illustrated the struggles that rural women face when trying to assert their constitutional and customary rights thorugh a case study from KwaZulu-Natal. As an activist, Constance reiterated that rural women are already struggling to inherit what is theirs and what would laws like the Traditonal Courts Bill mean for the future of women. Dr. Vally provided valuable input on what African Feminism entails in the context of walls and what can feminism offer us to break down those walls.

The café was facilitated by Thokozile Madonko (Heinrich Boll Stiftung) and held at Tshisimani Activist Education Centre. 

Professor Thuli Madonsela and Nokwanda Sihlali (LARC Researcher)   

Professor Thuli Madonsela and Ayesha Motala (LARC Researcher)