THE POWER OF LEARNING


The DP's bright star, Western Cape Minister of Education Helen Zille, has an ability to find trouble at its source - and deal with it. Some believe her special leadership and management skills will bring her even higher national office.

By Hugh Murray

From time to time a leader takes the political stage, and it immediately becomes clear that he or she occupies a compelling dimension. Page one leads in major newspapers trumpet successes and breakthroughs, and the die is cast. A fresh and powerful influence moves around with apparent impunity and immunity, an influence seldom tempered by the knowledge that all this adoration will self-immolate in an inevitable bonfire of the vanities.

But there is another kind too - the one with no false ambition, but only an unusual desire to serve. Invariably, it is this simple passion that propels them - often reluctantly - into the public domain. They are not influenced by public or media adoration. The job's the thing, and the hype - to them - is just that. Vigilant and self-critical they try to keep focused on the real issues. Such a person is Helen Zille, DP Minister of Education in the Western Cape. She's a politician who doesn't want to be one, but certainly is; a leader who's prepared to follow her leader. And she's adamant she doesn't want Tony Leon's slot - ever.

It is these qualities - combined with her formidable intellect and Thatcheresque resolve - that have made her a vital member of the DP's national "brains trust", responsible for drafting policy. Her handling of the education portfolio in the provincial cabinet has also given her a relevance beyond those "shadow ministers" in the National Assembly.

In her daily round, the zealous and energetic Zille has become the nemesis of public servants who don't serve, policemen who don't police, and politicians who are impolitic. Incidents such as that when she reported arson and vandalism at a school in Guguletu - she drove to the police station after the phone was ignored for 20 minutes, only to find the staff in the charge office watching "The Bold and the Beautiful" - are already the stuff of legend. They are also partly responsible for her steely reputation.

The daughter of half-Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany, who met later in South Africa, she has always taken life very seriously - a finely-tuned sense of humour notwithstanding. Prominent South African businesswoman, Sheila Boardman recalls that Zille was a year ahead of her at St Mary's in Johannesburg, and was head day-girl. Says Boardman: "I was certainly aware of her debating and organisational ability. She was always very clear about her goals, and was very direct and open. This was quite unusual for girls at that time. Helen has clarity, direction and - even more important - incredible courage.

"That's what makes her different. At a time when this country was running on fear, Helen stood out for her fearlessness. As a political reporter and in her work at the University of Cape Town, she was never frightened to say and do what was right. Those things are so rare in politics. I'd love to see her leading the Democratic Party. She would be absolutely brilliant."

Zille remains true to Boardman's description. Hardworking to a fault, she has all the unorthodox habits of a driven person - often rising a 3am or some such hour to peruse her e-mail. At the same time she runs her family with precision and care, not forgetting the needs of two gifted sons or her brilliant academic husband. "I have a rock-solid marriage and family, and this gives me the freedom to do what I have to," she explains.

None of her political rise was planned, it seems. "Everything I have done in my life has developed organically. I've never sat and said 'this is where I want to be in five years time', and I've never had a plan for my life." Zille says she became aware of the need for planning when she "got into management". Her interest in politics most certainly began during her years at the now-defunct but famous Rand Daily Mail, where she had a distinguished career. Her editor at the time, the internationally renowned Allister Sparks, recalls: "She was the star cadet on the Rand Daily Mail.

I have always thought of her as a protégé, and appointed her political reporter and then political correspondent of the RDM as soon as it was appropriate. She performed very well, and was the most meticulously accurate reporter I have known. Helen is an extraordinarily able and committed person."

Tall, elegant and handsome in a strongly feminine way, the 48-year-old education minister is surprised at the reception she has had since taking office. How did she get there? "Things have interested me. I've pursued those that really interested me. I've become passionate about issues, and when opportunities have opened up, I've used them."

Education - always important to Zille - reached passion status during her term as chairperson of the governing body of Grove Primary School in Claremont, attended by her children. She took on and defeated the State in a now-famous court case. Then Zille's 10-point plan to rescue state schools also brought her prominently into the limelight, and to the attention of the Democratic Party.

Having served with distinction as Director of Communications at UCT - a sharp-end job which brought her into close contact with one of her mentors (Mamphela Ramphele, the outgoing vice-chancellor), Zille was well equipped to handle the difficult times. Her representation of the parents of Grove, who were wrestling with the business of change and such matters as the principle of subsidising the education of children from disadvantaged homes, made her a household name, an object of admiration.

"My experiences have made me very devoted to the public schools' systems. I wanted my children to go to public schools, and be with all kinds of children from all kinds of backgrounds. They started their education just as the schools were beginning to integrate, so it was really a wonderful opportunity. I was also aware that they would eventually be entering a knowledge-based economy, and that proper education was their only real chance. And I wanted that to happen in the public schools system", Zille elaborates.

She was deeply concerned that the government tended to pay more attention to the needs of the trade unions than to education. It was a time when "right-sizing" was an issue, and it was apparent that many who didn't deserve their positions were being expediently retained while those who did were given no option but to take a package and move on.

"One thing led to another and I found myself having to decide whether to take on the state in a court case. Backed by some extraordinarily good legal advisers and many other schools grappling with the same problem, the Grove went to court."

It was a difficult time for Zille - a long-time loyalist from the Mass Democratic Movement (MDM), many of whom were devout Marxists and members of the ANC, to which some believe she may have been emotionally inclined at one time. "To oppose the ANC meant that we would be called racist. It was the first time this matter had come up, so I had to deal with it. It put me at the cutting edge of education. I'm committed to change and equity, but we had to find ways of achieving these things. Meanwhile, I was continually seeing the ANC propagating a race-based model of transformation, rather than one based on merit, individual effort and reward."

As a "liberal democrat" firmly rooted in the principles of just law and due process, and who had expressed her commitment to these values as vice-chair of the End Conscription Campaign and member of the national executive of the Black Sash, amongst many other tasks, Zille's political credentials were impeccable. Moreover, she had in the early nineties been involved in the investigations into the Third Force and police efforts to "exacerbate and foment violence" in the black townships. It was a "very trying and stressful period."

"Most of my friends were socialists and committed to the ANC. It always puzzled me that people whose values I shared so deeply could have such a different understanding of what would make a society develop and grow, and what would give us the best chance of creating greater equity." So convinced was Zille that she had missed something about Marxism that she went back to UCT to study revisionist literature on economics and politics.

"After that, I was completely satisfied that the emperor had no clothes! I also came to understand that being a liberal democrat was not foreign to the needs of oppressed and poor people, but central to [solving these problems]. I believe there was no inconsistency in associating myself with the MDM as a liberal democrat."

She is, nonetheless, conscious that white liberalism has a somewhat tarnished reputation, for all the wrong reasons. "I think this is because many whites have lived their lives at too much of a distance from the issues they talk about and analyse. I think that for people [who interact with issues] that arise out of their daily interaction with township residents, this problem doesn't arise. Working together enables one to develop the confidence and trust of people one is working with. Liberalism tends to divorce itself from the real problems of real people. I think there are many people who call themselves liberal who've never been into a township, and would probably be scared to. "There's a disjuncture between how people live and how they engage with society." On the issue of Helena Dolny, recently departed CEO of the Land Bank and widow of Joe Slovo, Zille has strong feelings. "She's been called a white liberal but she isn't. She's a Marxist. And there's a huge contradiction in being a Marxist whilst demanding a salary of more than R1m a year. The disjuncture between public and private morality is prevalent amongst many ANC supporters. They certainly don't have a monopoly on morality."

So how is it really going in the coalition, and in her portfolio?, I ask. While Zille says she has been remarkably surprised by the talent of some of the people in her department, she owns up to serious frustrations over the way bureaucrats bedevil real progress. "They have rules and hierarchies and definite lines of accountability. So getting something done doesn't necessarily involve deciding who's best placed to do it. It involves going through the entire hierarchy to establish the process. This takes time, and is definitely not the shortest route between two points. It also makes it very difficult to choose dynamic, new, interesting people for jobs, because the hierarchy dictates that people move up step by step until they get to one stage beyond their level of competence. So it's all quite rigid, although I must say that in the education department we have greater flexibility and potential because of the very good people there. There is also great excitement about my plans for more flexible management which will shake out the rigidity, focus on problems, and which will take strategic decision rather than hidebound ones.

Zille has also to deal with the structural problems of alliance with a party (the NNP) which has always been anathema to her. She says she's coping, and that she's been pleasantly surprised at the way Premier Gerald Morkel and his lieutenants have handled the situation. "They give complete leeway in my portfolio, and although I obviously report to the provincial cabinet, I have found the premier very supportive of all my strategies. There are obviously excellent and competent NP members of cabinet, although I'd rather not name them individually." "I'll be honest with you, it was very difficult initially. And I don't think I was rationalising when it became clear to me that it was very important to prevent a situation when the ANC had a two-thirds majority and effectively nine out of nine provinces. That is not conducive to multiparty democracy, to checks and balances, or the establishment of the rule of law. Given the transformation legislation, it was apparent to me that the only source of upward promotion and the establishment of a middle class would be through party political patronage, and the favour of the big party or the big man in government. This would rapidly cause a consolidation around the ANC, cause opposition to wither on the vine, and lead to the one party domination we've seen in so many developing countries. And being at the end of the nineties rather than the middle of apartheid, it was possible to see Gerald Morkel not as a PW Botha or John Vorster, just as it was possible to see Trevor Manuel not as a disciple of Karl Marx. So I gave it a lot of thought and took the decision in the context of what I believed I would see if I looked back in 10 year's time."

Zille's focus has been on disadvantaged schools rather than those privileged institutions where the problems are relatively small. On the basis that she doesn't need to fix what isn't broken, she is giving almost all her time to those schools where genuine problems exist. "And we get real support from many educators in these communities, those who really want solutions. Sometimes I may have to threaten to close schools down, but by-and-large we are always able to sit down and reach agreement on what has to be done to fix things. And not once in all my work in the townships has anyone raised the matter of the coalition with me." Zille says she has a "very good" relationship with national education minister, Kadar Asmal. "We disagree, and we are very clear on our areas of disagreement. There is mutual respect in the relationship - there certainly is respect from my side. We're both serious about education, and it's important to have us looking at it through different prisms as no-one has the monopoly on truth and insight." At the end of January, Zille was shocked to find that school reports were being forged by students, aided in some cases by teachers, to allow entry into Grade 12 (Matric). It appears this is one of the reasons for so many Matric failures, and Zille is determined to establish a proper method of skills analysis to prevent such wastage and farce. She is really worried about the level of social disintegration foreshadowed by this kind of conduct, which is apparently accompanied by a limited or non-existent sense or wrongdoing. "I was only trying to slip through", one offender told her. "But I didn't think I was doing wrong."

Zille is in favour of more benchmark exams, such as those used in Britain, to measure more accurately the real acumen and ability of students. They also need to be streamed into the correct areas of ability earlier on in their school careers. "We also need random stratified sampling at the end of Grade 3 so that we can test whether pupils are reaching adequate standards of literacy before they move on," she adds. The teaching problem is exacerbated by the number of disputes - 1000 in two years. "Disputes cripple schools," says Zille. "They cost time, money and effort, and even when the dispute has been resolved in law, it continues in private. Schools become paralysed as teachers fight with and undermine each other.

"There are cases where a post is filled on merit, but far too many are filled because of trade union or personal connections - or long service," laments Zille. "But I want to stress that there are still large numbers of dedicated teachers across the system." Zille says she's loving her job; that all the strands of her life have come together to prepare her for the position. "I don't want any other position. I want to focus on this and see what I can achieve. It's going to be a 20-year haul, and I hope I can see it through at least five of these."

There may be, however, a dark cloud looming around that time. "There is a likelihood that the ANC will control the Western Cape after the next general election for a variety of reasons. But if I'm out of this job I want to continue in education in one way or another." It's hard to believe she doesn't mean it.

Leadership Magazine, February 2000