Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi

Impeccably dressed as always, Geraldine meets us in her office in the Pretoria CBD. She is completely down-to-earth; lacking any airs that one would imagine someone in her high position to have, and greets us with a broad and friendly smile.

Geraldine started her work in the ministry as Deputy Minister for Welfare and Population Development and was later promoted to Minister of that portfolio. Her humanitarian nature made her a perfect candidate for this job and she lists it as one of her proudest moments. She adds that she does not really see her position as Minister as an achievement, but rather as a contribution to the country’s greater goal.

Geraldine was born during the 1960 State of Emergency. Her grandmother was a trade unionist, and Geraldine grew up with a strong sense for politics. She was the first of six children born to a mother who was a factory worker and a father who was the principal of a children’s home. She states that her father was a hard worker and spent a lot of his time with the children at the home. There was therefore always a sense of charity and sharing in their home.

As a socially conscious youth, one of Geraldine’s first memories is of being told to get off a bus because she refused to vacate what was labelled as a ‘white’ seat. There were only four rows for ‘non-whites’ and once they were taken, regardless of whether the ‘white’ seats were filled or not, coloured and black people had to stand. Geraldine recalls that she could not understand the principle of leaving seats open for people who were not there – just because they were of a certain race, and so decided to sit on one of the ‘forbidden’ seats. The bus driver promptly stopped the vehicle and Geraldine was told to walk the rest of the way to school.

Geraldine’s political career began in high school, when she ran for president of the student representative council. Although Geraldine was defeated by her competitor, in retrospect she realises that her message might have been too broad and too philosophical for a high school audience.

After school, Geraldine enlisted in the military wing of the ANC, Umkhonto we Sizwe or MK, to join the struggle for freedom in South Africa. She believed in an informed, armed struggle for liberation and the MK echoed her political philosophy on freedom. Not discouraged by being a female in a man’s world, Geraldine states that she was not discriminated against simply because she does not have the type of personality that allows for discrimination.

She met her husband while fighting in Angola and has been happily married for 23 years. The couple have three children. Geraldine spends her free time keeping her body and mind fit, and admits to being an avid reader, concentrating mostly on philosophy and information on how to achieve a non-racist, non-sexist, equal society.

Geraldine believes that South Africa’s crime rate can be successfully combated – not through additional police reserves – but rather through therapy. Geraldine explains that there are many challenges in South Africa, but the most important is to deal with the trauma inflicted on society in the past, which has now spilled over into the present. She believes that the family unit has been broken down and that the level of anger in society is too high.

“There is a lot of anger that has spilled over from Apartheid days which has led to an increased violent society today. No one has dealt with that anger and until we do, the violent nature of South Africans will not change. We do not need more police on the streets but instead more counselling. If we deal with our rage, our mindset will change and we will become less violent,” she clarifies.

Geraldine’s goal is to remain in politics and have a greater impact on the community. She feels that she and other public servants have been presented with an ideal opportunity to make a difference in South Africa and that they should not waste a second in doing so.

People, and the improvement of their lives, is her passion and part of achieving that goal is eradicating what she refers to as a most depressing ‘odour’ in their lives. “In my job I do a lot of constituency work, which requires me to visit many homes. It is the saddest feeling when you enter a home and can smell that there is no food there. It is a peculiar smell that you cannot describe and it is my goal to work towards a country where that smell is completely absent,” says Geraldine.

A deep thinker and socially conscious woman, Geraldine is a Minister with a big heart. A woman on a clear path to greatness, she is certainly making her mark in the political sphere.