It may seem odd to refer to the late Frene Ginwala as “My Madam.” That is not how one would generally see the relationship between the Opposition Chief Whip and the Speaker. To her face, for 10 years, I always called her “Madam Speaker” and I was always “Mr Gibson.”
I only met Frene Ginwala once before the 1994 election. Naturally, one knew her reputation and she certainly was top flight, with brains and presence, and impressive qualifications. When we arrived at Parliament in 1994, she was immediately elected as the first Speaker of the new National Assembly.
I was the chief whip of the Democratic Party that had emerged as a 1.7% party with only 7 MPs. Tony Leon, the 37-year-old leader, took over the job in the worst possible circumstances with the resignation of Dr Zach de Beer, who, gentleman that he was, accepted responsibility for the disastrous election.
Interestingly, the DP would not have been in Parliament at all if South Africa had settled for a constituency system instead of the proportional representation system that ensured that even tiny parties and their supporters could be represented. They only had to poll around 40000 votes and they would get one MP.
It would have been simple, and perhaps natural, if the Speaker had regarded the small parties as of little account. Instead, from the moment we arrived at Parliament, she was determined to see to it that the smallest parties – some smaller than the DP – were entitled to be respected and heard in every debate, every portfolio committee and every committee. Today, nearly thirty years later, this still prevails. And it is perhaps this that is Frene Ginwala’s greatest legacy.
One remembers the authority and dignity of Speaker Ginwala. She was respected by all the parties in Parliament and particularly by the whips of each of the parties. They are the people mainly responsible for interacting with the Speaker and helping to ensure a smooth-running, organised Order Paper with proper provision for debate and decision.
She was a no-nonsense Speaker and she always maintained order. Perhaps those were different days 30 years ago, but the mayhem and hooliganism carried out today by certain parties – one in particular, the EFF – designed to appeal to the base instincts of their limited band of supporters, would never have been tolerated by Ginwala.
Like all human beings, Frene Ginwala was not perfect. The saddest example of a failure by her was her closing ranks with the ANC during the Arms Purchase scandal when she should have gone for a root and branch investigation leading to prosecutions and consequences for the crooks – at least one or two of them served in the Cabinet.
Although Ginwala could be imperious and sometimes almost forbidding, we had a polite, respectful, and friendly relationship when I represented a tiny minority and which carried on when we became the Official Opposition. We had used our small base to project to Parliament and the public that we were the real opposition. The voters duly rewarded us for our hard work and Ginwala and I worked even more closely together in the interests of Parliament (and on my side, the interests as well of the DP and then the DA) until she left in 2004.
She passed on at the grand age of 90; without doubt a figure of great significance in South Africa, both before and after Democracy. I was also very fond of her.
Douglas Gibson is a former opposition chief whip and a former ambassador to Thailand. His website is douglasgibsonsouthafrica.com
This article first appeared in The Star newspaper.
