Geraldine Joslyn Fraser-Moleketi (born 24 August 1960) is a South African
politician
A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...
who was Minister of Public Service and Administration since 17 June 1999 to 25 September 2008. She was also a member of the
National Executive Committee National Executive Committee is the name of a leadership body in several organizations, mostly political parties:
* National Executive Committee of the African National Congress, in South Africa
* Australian Labor Party National Executive
* Nationa ...
of the
African National Congress
The African National Congress (ANC) is a Social democracy, social-democratic political party in Republic of South Africa, South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when ...
until 2007.
Birth and teenage years
She was born in
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 ...
on 24 August 1960, the eldest of the six children of Cynthia, a factory worker, and Arthur Fraser, a teacher working at specialized schools in the
Cape Peninsula
The Cape Peninsula ( af, Kaapse Skiereiland) is a generally mountainous peninsula that juts out into the Atlantic Ocean at the south-western extremity of the African continent. At the southern end of the peninsula are Cape Point and the Cape of ...
.
Fraser spent her formative years with her maternal grandmother who lives in the small Klipfontein community adjacent to Cape Town's sprawling squatter camp,
Crossroads
Crossroads, crossroad, cross road or similar may refer to:
* Crossroads (junction), where four roads meet
Film and television Films
* ''Crossroads'' (1928 film), a 1928 Japanese film by Teinosuke Kinugasa
* ''Cross Roads'' (film), a 1930 Brit ...
. Her outlook on life was shaped by the beliefs of her grandmother who was an active trade unionist.
Politics further impacted on her family life. Fraser was eight years old when her mother's sister, whose husband was active in the
Non-European Unity Movement
The Non-European Unity Movement (NEUM) is a Trotskyist organisation formed in South Africa in 1943. It had links to the Workers Party of South Africa (WPSA), the first countrywide Trotskyist organisation, and was initially conceived as a broad p ...
, left the country to assume a life in exile. By the time she reached Standard 8 Fraser had developed a keen political awareness. At this stage she attended
Livingstone High School
Livingstone High School is a school in the Western Cape of South Africa. It was founded by Abdullah Abdurahman in 1926. As of August 2017 Theodore Bruinders was the school's principal, currently the Acting Principal is Mr D.R. Niekerk. Ashley va ...
.
Education
Fraser-Moleketi matriculated from
Livingstone High School
Livingstone High School is a school in the Western Cape of South Africa. It was founded by Abdullah Abdurahman in 1926. As of August 2017 Theodore Bruinders was the school's principal, currently the Acting Principal is Mr D.R. Niekerk. Ashley va ...
in
Claremont which had a history of providing its pupils with alternative perspective on South African history and socio-political issues. Years of apartheid on Cape Town buses, where half the bus was reserved for whites, had also sharpened her political perspective and Fraser recalls battles with white school children on municipal buses traveling to and from school. Fraser was also influenced by events in and around
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 ...
, such as the bulldozing of shacks in Crossroads in the early 1970s, the 1976 school protests and the Fatti's and Monis strike and consumer boycott. Racial tension between the Coloured and the African Communities residing in the emerging settlements was also on the increase. Fraser stepped forward in an attempt to resolve these tensions.
She holds a Masters in Administration from the
University of Pretoria
The University of Pretoria ( af, Universiteit van Pretoria, nso, Yunibesithi ya Pretoria) is a multi-campus public university, public research university in Pretoria, the administrative and de facto capital of South Africa. The university was ...
.
Political activity
In 1980 while in her second year at the
University of the Western Cape
The University of the Western Cape (UWC) is a public research university in Bellville, near Cape Town, South Africa. The university was established in 1959 by the South African government as a university for Coloured people only. Other un ...
, she left South Africa to go into exile in
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...
. Fraser-Moleketi was elected to the
South African Communist Party
The South African Communist Party (SACP) is a communist party in South Africa. It was founded in 1921 as the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA), tactically dissolved itself in 1950 in the face of being declared illegal by the governing Na ...
's Central Committee in 1988. She returned to South Africa in July 1990 when the Communist Party was unbanned and helped set up their national offices.
Following the resignation of President
Thabo Mbeki
Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki KStJ (; born 18 June 1942) is a South African politician who was the second president of South Africa from 14 June 1999 to 24 September 2008, when he resigned at the request of his party, the African National Congress (ANC ...
in September 2008, Fraser-Moleketi was one of ten ministers who submitted their resignations on 23 September, although it was subsequently announced that she might be willing to remain in her post.
"Confusion rattles markets"
Sapa (''IOL''), 23 September 2008. This was, however, later refuted by her spokesperson and she was replaced by Richard Baloyi
Masenyani Richard Baloyi was the Minister of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs under South African President Jacob Zuma, from 2009 to 2014. Before, he was Minister of Public Service and Administration in Kgalema Motlanthe's cabin ...
on 25 September.
Kemal Dervis of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has recently announced the appointment of Fraser-Moleketi as Democratic Governance Director in UNDP's Bureau for Development Policy (BDP). Fraser-Moleketi assumed her new role on 2 January 2009.
Husband
She is married to Jabu Moleketi
Phillip Jabulani "Jabu" Moleketi (born 15 June 1957, in Pimville) was Deputy Minister of Finance in the Cabinet of South Africa of President Thabo Mbeki
Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki KStJ (; born 18 June 1942) is a South African politician who was the ...
whom she met in a military training camp in Lusaka
Lusaka (; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Zambia. It is one of the fastest-developing cities in southern Africa. Lusaka is in the southern part of the central plateau at an elevation of about . , the city's population was ab ...
.
References
* "Who is Who in South African Politics," by Shelagh Gastrow, 1995, Rovan Press, Johannesburg,
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fraser-Moleketi, Geraldine
1960 births
Living people
Politicians from Cape Town
Cape Coloureds
Members of the National Assembly of South Africa
University of the Western Cape alumni
University of Pretoria alumni
Alumni of Livingstone High School
South African Communist Party politicians
African National Congress politicians
Government ministers of South Africa
Women government ministers of South Africa
Women members of the National Assembly of South Africa