Public Protector urges UL graduates to play a part in making South Africa work

Public Protector Adv Thuli Madonsela has called on Health and Science graduates of the University of Limpopo (UL), to go out and play a meaningful role in making South Africa work.She said while delivering a key note address at the Winter Graduation Ceremony at the Ga-Rankuwa Campus on Friday, 18 May 2012.

 

The Public Protector reminded the graduates that they come from a university with laudable achievements which among others include the groundbreaking medical feat that saw Siamese twins, Mpho and Mphonyana separated.

 

After congratulating the graduates, drawn from the medical field, science and agriculture, for the commitment, persistence and hard work they put towards their studies, the Public Protector exhorted them to join patriotic South Africans that are making the constitutionally promised ‘better life for all’ possible.

 

She further pointed out that they were part of an essential machinery of scarce skills that often determine whether people live or die and that the power they hold in this regard should be exercised ethically.

“As you go out there to make a difference in people’s lives, particularly in the public health system, the important question that that should inform your ethical conduct should be how do we treat people,” she said.

 

Alluding to her experiences in helping ordinary people exacting accountability and justice for state wrongs, the Public Protector referred to a case of ethical conduct failure in a major Gauteng hospital that resulted in an avoidable trauma for a family. The case involved a man who died following a stomach operation and leg amputation. His family had not been informed before by the relevant officials undertaking the operation and only discovered this reality at the point of being shown the body- leading to compounded trauma on top of the bereavement.

 

The Public Protector pointed out that the group was part of South Africa’s most informed generation by being participants and beneficiaries of information age. She asked them to take advantage of this.She further highlighted that the graduates had already climbed many trees to get where they were and that the power of dreams had sustained them through their university journey, including times when they may have considered quitting.

 

While giving advice to the group, the Public Protector urged them to use the memory of their previous successes to power their efforts in the face of the challenges they will face in their post-graduation life.

 

“Do not ask what South Africa can do for you but rather what role can you play to make South Africa work according to the dream underpinning our constitutional architecture. Remember, life’s rewards do not necessarily go to the fastest but to the most persistent. Go out there and make a difference. South Africa’s future is in your hands,” she concluded.