Stellenbosch University law professor and former public protector Thuli Madonsela is always up for a challenge.
On Sunday, she joined a group of more than 30 Cape Town residents for a special hike up Table Mountain.
The trek was part of a fundraising initiative to aid Stellencosch University students from households struggling to keep their higher education dreams alive, due to a lack of funds.
She told News24:
Madonsela's students were particularly hard hit when the country went into lockdown in response to the rapid spread of the coronavirus.
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"The greatest challenge is that students who had jobs are not able to get those jobs anywhere. For example, we put up a surety for students and the idea was that we would help with the funds and the students would also help, but they can't help because a lot of restaurants have closed and those that didn't close only kept core staff - they couldn't keep students," Madonsela told News24.
Lockdown
Although the lockdown impacted the students negatively, she said she understood the importance of the government's initial response to the pandemic.
"I think the government has done its best in responding to an unexpected and unprecedented public health challenge. Of course, in the process, there is collateral damage, such as businesses closing..."
However, Madonsela is hopeful that things will get better and her fundraising efforts will be successful.
The Table Mountain hike was the first of two fundraising events hosted by Madonsela.
The second event will be a walkathon in Pniel, just outside Stellenbosch, on Saturday.
