That training allowed me to play a role in helping to secure rights for the indigenous communities I am from.

Raised on the Cape Flats by anti-apartheid activists was not always easy for Lesle Jansen. Her father, she points out by way of example, was “under constant house arrest”. But it is this upbringing that put her on her path to becoming a social justice activist.

“My parents’ constant struggles for justice and fairness deeply instilled in me a sense of fairness and giving back to our people. Their lives opened a road that … took me to places, people and opportunities which I could give back to my community,” she says, adding that, because of this, “a career in law was a natural conclusion”.

Having matriculated from Heathfield High, Jansen completed her undergraduate BProc degree from the University of Western Cape before obtaining two postgraduate degrees: an LLM (law) in Indigenous Peoples in International Law from the University of Arizona and an LLM (law) in Rule of Law for Development from Loyola University of Chicago.

Obtaining the latter two saw her being trained by Native American scholars on indigenous peoples’ rights. “That training allowed me to play a role in helping to secure rights for the indigenous communities I am from,” she says.

Here she alludes to what she sees as one of her biggest achievements to date: helping ensure the Khoikhoi and San get recognition as traditional knowledge holders to the uses of rooibos. “Their knowledge was misappropriated 200 years ago and now they are rights holders to a share in a benefit of a massive industry,” the 43-year-old says.

Her achievements are no mean feat, particularly given the male-dominated nature of the sector. “As a woman, you do have to negotiate your space in ways men don’t have to do,”she says. “But I have not allowed this to stand in my way of achieving what needs to be done. It remains a constant struggle, but one does become more experienced in navigating those moments over time. I have come to really be strong in my own sense of strength, sourcing internally rather than externally.”

Having forged her own way — and improving the lives of others while doing so — Jansen offers young women this advice: “Honour who you are. Find your own path. Don’t go where you are expected to go, but follow that call deep in your heart. If you can find the strength to stay true to it, it will take you places — both internally and externally — that you would never have dreamed possible.”

— Carl Collison

Facebook: @Lesle-Jansen