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No, Thuli Madonsela didn’t say she was ‘tired of black people in ANC blaming apartheid’

This article is more than 4 years old

South Africa’s former public protector Thuli Madonsela is a household name.

In 2014, the advocate and law professor was listed as one of the world’s most influential people. And when she served in the independent judicial oversight role of public protector from 2009 to 2016, Madonsela showed she was not afraid to speak her mind.

But did Madonsela say she was tired of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) blaming apartheid for the country’s troubles?

A March 2019 article by NewSoweto, posted on Facebook, quotes Madonsela as saying: “I’m a little tired of black people in the ANC blaming apartheid for everything that is going wrong in SA.” The post has been shared more than 1,800 times.

Clues that point to a fake


Africa Check has previously fact-checked a NewSoweto story and found it fake. It’s a known junk news site with no “about” section or contact information. And the article on Madonsela is full of red flags.

There are no details on when or where Madonsela said this.

The article has several grammatical and spelling errors. It even gets her name wrong, calling her Thuli “Mandosela” – not Madonsela.


Africa Check could find no other news report that Madonsela had said she was tired of the ruling party blaming apartheid.

‘Indeed false or fake’


Given Madonsela’s prominence, and the respect she commands, such a statement would have been all over local and international news.

We contacted her to make sure.

“The quote is indeed false or fake,” Madonsela told Africa Check. She said she had also seen the quote on a fake Facebook account impersonating her.

“For the record, I’m currently not on Facebook.” 

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