Whakaotihia te rerenga e whai ake nei: I whakatipu a Madonsela i ana tamariki tokorua, he tama, he kotiro, hei matua kotahi. I mate tana tāne i te mea he tamariki tonu nga tamariki. I te tau 1980, i tiimata a Madonsela i tana mahi hei kaiawhina kaiako i tana kura o mua, Evelyn Baring High School, i Swaziland. I te tau 1982 ka noho ia hei kaiāwhina kaiako i te Kura Tuarua o Naledi i Soweto, tētahi o ngā kura i te pokapū o te 1976
Te whakaekenga o Soweto. I te mutunga o Hurae 2018, i whakaatuhia ko Madonsela i whakaipoipo ki a Dick Foxton, he kaitohutohu whanaungatanga hapori.