Leader, politician, diplomat, and activist Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi is grace personified as she briskly walks into Mascot Hotel to chat with mediapersons waiting to meet this woman of steel who was made in the crucible of South Africa's struggle for racial justice and democracy. In the long walk towards freedom and democracy, she walked in the footsteps of leaders like Nelson Mandela, Joe Slovo, and Chris Hani, to work towards a “just and accessible society” in South Africa. Today, as Director of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for democratic governance, Geraldine oversees the democratic process in several countries to usher in the process towards freedom, justice and equality, and free elections. She was in the city to deliver the key note address for ‘Surakshayaanam,' International Workshop on Disaster Risk Reduction.
Her svelte and petite frame belies the inner strength and determination that make her a leader. Looking back at the long journey towards democracy in South Africa, she recalls that her politicisation began in her family. Geraldine was eight when an aunt who had left on an exit permit to Netherlands was refused permission by the South African government to attend her brother's funeral.
“Those little things stay in your mind... In addition, in my high school, Livingstone High School, the teachers were politically conscious and instilled in us the need to ensure that we overcome the injustices in South African society. In 1980 I went into exile. It was a conscious decision to ensure that I make a contribution to building a just and equitable South African society. Part of it was to acquire a different set of skills that would help the political struggle to overthrow the apartheid regime,” she says.
Towards the end of July 1981, Joe Gqabi, mentor and member of the leadership of the African National Congress (ANC) was assassinated. “ In fact, we were the first to see the body because he was assassinated in the house where I was staying. It was 24 days before my 21st birthday,” she recalls.
She continues: “That was one such incident. But, in addition, I had grown up in the ranks of the ANC. I also underwent military training in Angola and later in the erstwhile Soviet Union.”
With an infectious laugh, she confirms that she met her husband during her self-imposed exilein Luanda, in the beginning of 1982. “I spent most of the nine years and 11 months of my exile in Zimbabwe. I returned to South Africa in 1990. It was with the aim of rebuilding the structure of the South African Communist Party. In 1993, I was requested by the ANC to serve as a deputy to the national election coordinator for the first democratic election. We called it the freedom election.”
When asked about her close association with Nelson Mandela, she talks with pride about his great leadership abilities and his calibre. “He is someone who is determined about building a society that is based on justice and non-racialism. We all recall his speech at his trial when he said how he would fight both white domination and black domination. He was prepared to die for that. That was the ethos of his life,” explains Geraldine. She worked as Minister for Welfare and Population Development from January 9, 1999, as well as Minister of Public Service and Administration until 2008.
Working with Mandela
“In fact, I worked with President Mandela in two capacities – in government and in the ANC. We worked closely in the Northern Cape, one we saw as a marginal province, for the ANC. I was there also because I can speak two of the 11 languages of South Africa.” Agreeing that he is very much a living legend, she adds: “He is very much a human being as well and recognises the fact that as a human being he has human errors. That is the strength of a great leader. ... one who doesn't see themselves as beyond learning.”
During her tenure as Minister of Welfare and Population, with the support of the then President Mandela, she put in far reaching social policies that have since developed and helped South Africa's children and the poor. She adds: “In many ways my work now is an expanse in scale of what I did in South Africa. We look at inclusive participation, citizen-society relationship; we involve in election, somewhere in the world, every two weeks, by providing technical support; we have e-governance programmes; we develop what is called the Mobile Millennium Development Goals (MDG) platform so that you can access on your cell phone the progress of the MDG anywhere in the world. We work to ensure that the population knows that they must hold governments accountable; for legal accessibility and rule of law and legal empowerment. Anti-corruption andhuman rights also come under the ambit of my work. This will be my area of work for a period of time, until I return to South Africa,” she concludes with a smile.
Forging steel
“I underwent solitary confinement for 17 days just after the assassination of Joe Gqabi. The determination to fight comes from the struggle for social justice, love for community and people, a desire for change, a thirst to see that the needs of our people are recognised, a belief in human life and dignity. It was also about knowing that it was not about something abstract but it was about fundamentally changing the lives of so many people and our personal life too. I think the extra-judicial killings that took place made me even more determined to persevere. That made one realise that one has got to struggle for justice – social, economic, and political. Black South Africans were denied the right to vote, denied access to education... Essentially apartheid was an attempt to dehumanise. If you look at Kerala, your strength is the high levels of female literacy. Because when you educate a woman, you educate a family.”
True grit
The determination to fight comes from the struggle for social justice, love for community and people, a desire for change, a thirst to see that the needs of our people are recognised, a belief in human life and dignity.
Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi
Published - March 14, 2012 07:53 pm IST
