Deborah Anne "Debbie" Schäfer (born 18 December 1966) is a South African politician and lawyer who served as the Western Cape Provincial Minister of Education and a Member of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament for the Democratic Alliance (DA) from 2014 to 2022. Prior to serving in the provincial government, Schäfer served as a

Member of the National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...

from 2009 to 2014.

Early life and family

Schäfer was born on 18 December 1966 in

Pietermaritzburg Pietermaritzburg (; Zulu: umGungundlovu) is the capital and second-largest city in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It was founded in 1838 and is currently governed by the Msunduzi Local Municipality. Its Zulu name umGungundlovu ...

in the

Natal Province The Province of Natal (), commonly called Natal, was a province of South Africa from May 1910 until May 1994. Its capital was Pietermaritzburg. During this period rural areas inhabited by the black African population of Natal were organized into ...

, and is of

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

descent. During her early years, her family relocated to Johannesburg, where she completed her primary school education. They later moved to

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

where she matriculated from Bergvliet High School in 1984.Debbie Schäfer – Western Cape Government
AfricaCom. Retrieved on 27 August 2019 She achieved a Bachelor of Arts in English and Psychology from the

University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) ( af, Universiteit van Kaapstad, xh, Yunibesithi ya yaseKapa) is a public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university statu ...

and, later on, in 1990, she received a

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

from the same university. She is married to Mark Schäfer. They have twin daughters, who both finished high school in 2017. Schäfer practised as an attorney of the Cape High Court for twelve years before starting her political career as a ward councillor.

Political career

Schäfer joined the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

in 1999. In 2002, she was elected to the Cape Town City Council as the councillor for ward 62, an area that included the suburbs of Wynberg and Constantia. In the

2006 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2006. * Elections in 2006 * Electoral calendar 2006 * 2006 Acehnese regional election * 2006 American Samoan legislative election * 2006 Bahraini parliamentary election * 2006 Costa Rican presidenti ...

, she was elected the councillor for ward 73. She served in this position until her

election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...

to the National Assembly in the 2009 general election. On 14 May 2009, the Democratic Alliance released a statement, in which Schäfer was appointed Shadow Deputy Minister of Police. Democratic Alliance Parliamentary Leader

Athol Trollip Roland Athol Price Trollip (born 12 March 1964) is a South African politician and provincial chairman of ActionSA in the Eastern Cape. He was previously a member of the Democratic Alliance (DA), serving as the Federal Chairperson of the DA from ...

reshuffled his Shadow Cabinet in September 2010 and appointed Schäfer as the Shadow Deputy Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development. She retained her position when newly elected Parliamentary Leader

Lindiwe Mazibuko Lindiwe Mazibuko (born 9 April 1980) is a Swazi-born South African academic, former politician, musician and the former leader of the Official Opposition Democratic Alliance (DA). She was elected DA Parliamentary Leader on 27 October 2011, beat ...

announced her Shadow Cabinet in February 2012. During her tenure in Parliament, she served on the Magistrates’ Commission. In the 2014 elections, she was elected to the Western Cape Provincial Parliament. Premier Helen Zille announced in a subsequent statement that Schäfer had been appointed as the Provincial Minister of Education. She was sworn in by Western Cape Deputy Judge President

Jeanette Traverso Jeanette Helena Margaretha Traverso (; born 28 May 1946) is a former judge of the High Court of South Africa. She is the second female appointed as a judge in South Africa and the first woman to be appointed as a Deputy Judge President of a Divi ...

. Following her re-election in May 2019, newly elected premier

Alan Winde Alan Richard Winde (born 18 March 1965) is a South African politician and businessman. He is the 8th and current Premier of the Western Cape, having held the position since 2019. He has been a Member of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament sin ...

announced that Schäfer would remain as Provincial Minister of Education.

Resignation

On 21 April 2022, Schäfer announced that she would be resigning as the Provincial Minister of Education and as a Member of the Provincial Parliament to take up a job in the legal sector in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. She said: "It has been my great privilege to have served as Provincial Minister of Education in the Western Cape Government for the last eight years. I believe I have left the Department in a better place than I found it, and am proud of the work that we have, together, achieved. I am, however, now ready to bow out of public life." She also thanked former premier Zille and premier Winde for appointing her to their provincial cabinets. She will remain a member of the DA. The following day, Winde announced that the Provincial Minister of Finance and Economic Opportunities,

David Maynier David John Maynier (born 22 October 1968) is a South African politician who has been the Western Cape Provincial Minister of Education since May 2022 and a Member of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament since May 2019. He served as the Weste ...

would succeed Schäfer as the Provincial Minister of Education. Schäfer resigned from the provincial government and provincial parliament on 15 May 2022.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Schafer, Debbie Living people Democratic Alliance (South Africa) politicians Members of the National Assembly of South Africa Women members of the National Assembly of South Africa Members of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament White South African people Women members of provincial legislatures of South Africa 21st-century South African women politicians 21st-century South African politicians 1966 births