PIONEER
Penuell Maduna
Lawyer | African Nation Congress Member | Human Rights Activist
Born: 29 December 1952
“We can build a South Africa of our dreams and desires. It can be done, it can be done.”
Who is
Penuell Maduna?
A lawyer, African National Congress (ANC) politician, and experienced negotiator.
Professions
and Roles
Lawyer, activist, negotiator, politician, minister, and businessman.
Best Known For
His role as a negotiator, and subsequent ministerial positions in government.
Life highlights
- Maduna matriculated in 1975 and enrolled as a law student at the University of Zululand, where he occupied student leadership positions.
- He participated in a protest in June 1976 after schoolchildren were killed in Soweto, and was arrested, detained, tried under the Terrorism Act, tortured, and then acquitted.
- He was tried again in the next few years for acting as part of the ANC underground, and was acquitted again in 1979. He finally went into exile in various Southern African states in 1980, still working for the ANC.
- Maduna completed his LLB at the University of Zimbabwe.
- He was a founding member of the ANC’s constitutional committee during his time at the ANC headquarters in Lusaka. From 1985, Maduna was closely involved with developing the ANC’s constitutional guidelines, including the Harare Declaration in 1989, Code in 1991-1992, and the negotiations that took place at the World Trade Centre in 1993.
- He co-authored the Fundamental Rights in the New Constitution in 1994.
- Maduna was appointed Deputy Minister of Home Affairs in 1994, Minister of Mineral and Energy Affairs in 1996, and Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development in 1999. He retired from political life in 2004.
- Maduna now holds positions in various big businesses including SAB Zenzele Holdings Limited, Bowmans, Sasol Oil Proprietary Limited, Altron, and Eland Platinum Holdings Limited.
IN THEIR OWN WORDS
“The Constitution remains one of the best products of the human intellect … In fact, I wouldn’t want, at least for now, to amend anything because anything that you are looking for you can find in the Constitution. There are many of those who get agitated over the land question, and who think we can solve it by amending the Constitution. I hold a different view. The Constitution as it stands still sticks out like a sore thumb … it’s a good document.”
– Penuell Maduna
Maduna’s grandmother was a devout ANC supporter and exposed Maduna to party politics early on.
References
