RHODA KADALIE
Rhoda Kadalie
is Executive Director of the Impumelelo Innovations Award Trust.
The Trust aims to reward innovative government and civil society initiatives
that improve social service delivery in the eradication of poverty.
Impumelelo makes awards totalling R1 million annually to about 15-20
public sector projects that directly improve the quality of life of
the poor. Of Impumelelo, she says: “Impumelelo provides satisfaction
for my activist side. It is part of an international scheme run by
the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard and financed by the Ford
Foundation.
The awards recognise front-line public officials – people who
get around red tape, take risks and inspire others. They show what can
be done.”
Rhoda also publishes an annual magazine that showcases the best poverty-reduction
projects that improve the quality of life of the poor.
Prior to that she was a Human Rights Commissioner for three years, appointed
by President Mandela in 1995, responsible for the Western and Northern
Cape. As Human Rights Commissioner,
she
conducted investigations into human rights violations in the prisons
in the Western and Northern
Cape, the poverty conditions of farm workers in the Northern Cape,
and children’s places of safety in Cape Town.
Many of her investigations received wide media coverage and brought
to the attention of government violations
occurring in the state sector that was supposed to uphold the Constitution
and the human rights
of citizens.
From 1976-1995 she was an academic and founder of the Gender Equity
Unit at the University of the Western Cape. Kadalie has travelled extensively
internationally, presenting lectures and papers on human rights and
gender politics in South Africa. In 1999 she was awarded an Honorary
Doctorate in the Liberal Arts from the University
of Uppsala, Sweden.
South African Women for Women is pleased to present Rhoda the Human Rights Award
in recognition of her tireless struggle for human rights and gender equality.