Carly Ritz

On September 9, 1999, Patricia de Lille stood up and blew the whistle and publicly called for a commission of inquiry into the arms deal. What followed was her version of living hell.

She was labelled unpatriotic – devastating for someone so dedicated to the fight against injustice in her country.

Trevor Manuel called her a “useful idiot” accusing her of speaking on behalf of the contractors who had lost tenders. Thabo Mbeki dismissed the claims.

Then came the death threats, being followed and the nagging anxiety.

Allegations of corruption high up in the Presidency regarding the billions of rands spent on weaponry incensed De Lille and she was not going to sit on it politely nor would she let the threats control her life.

“I did what I did because I love this country – I wanted to see it succeed and assist government in fighting corruption,” she said

The 61-year-old woman in the red blazer and matching, dainty, red sandals still gets fired up on the topic – can you blame her?

This is a woman who has spent the past 40 years of her life fighting for a country and a Constitution that we can all enjoy.

The daughter of a school teacher, De Lille had a measure of discipline and order instilled in the family home by her father from early on. One of seven siblings, her belongings were a series of hand-me-downs from one to the next, from clothes to shoes. The value of sharing was enduring.

From her immediate family, only four siblings remain. Her elder brother and sister died before turning 50. De Lille admits that she was relieved when she made it past the half way mark. Their 85-year-old mother lives with one of De Lille’s sisters, having refused the invitation to move in with her daughter the mayor – “my mother complains that I’m never home and she has to make an appointment to see me”. But De Lille sees the humour in it.

Her family life has been wrought with its own tragedies. De Lille’s youngest sister was raped and murdered at age 28.

It’s not easy to talk about the devastating loss but she drives home the message that she refused to let her sister become a mere statistic. After hearing the news she went straight to the police and so began the big sister’s quest for justice for her baby sister.

“I retraced her steps to the murder scene. Community members walked with me, they recognised me from TV. I went door to door.” She found an old woman who recalled her sister and the men she was with on the night of the murder. She knew the youngest of the four – a teenager out on bail for a previous rape charge. Within three days arrests were made. She thought she could handle the court hearings but when they read out the pathology report with details about the number of times her sister had been stabbed and how she had been raped, De Lille walked out.

During international children’s week, a year later, De Lille made an unannounced visit to Pollsmoor Prison. She was concerned about the conditions of juvenile inmates.

“There were 60 of them in one cell, with a scabies outbreak and nothing to do. It was terrible,” she said. While she scanned the conditions of the sentenced juveniles she unexpectedly came face to face with the youngest of her sister’s murderers. “I had that split second where I had to decide if I would walk away from all of it or continue in the fight for better conditions for these young people. It’s like a mother instinct and by then I had seen enough to know what to do.”

Her family were upset that she had chosen this particular war to wage – but she was dedicated to the cause. She took the issue to court and won. As for the young murderer, she never saw him again.

“He was punished and sentenced and served the sentence.” That seems to be enough for her. There is no bitterness in De Lille’s voice, rather an insight that comes from hands-on dealings with protocols and procedures. “When they come out of jail they are sometimes worse because our Correctional Services are not rehabilitative in terms of changing the child’s life – we don’t have the right programmes.” She recognises the limitations.

De Lille does not deny being argumentative and that she always has to have the last word.

She could have been a lawyer, she said.

Being part of such a big family she started working immediately after matric to help her father. She soon found herself becoming involved in politics in response to what was happening in the country. “There was no way that anybody could sit back and not become involved in fighting a system that had been declared a crime against humanity by the UN.”

Following the Soweto Uprising in 1976, De Lille became more deeply involved in the political struggle. As she talks, her narrative continues to unfold as a series of intimate anecdotes – one could listen to her for hours.

She talks about the spontaneous uprising during those years. On one occasion she remembers a young boy running down the street, with police chasing him for throwing stones. “He ran into my neighbour’s house and hid in the toilet and they shot and killed him right there. Then I started getting involved in politics and in the trade unions – they were the only legitimate organisations you could participate in because all the political organisations were banned at that time.”

Life took a series of turns and in hindsight it has allowed De Lille to do the best she could for the country, but she admits that often her family has been the casualty of her schedule. She promises to make time for them when she retires – but they are not entirely convinced. Her husband, son and daughter, mother and sisters are an amazing source of support for her.

After being part of the struggle, the trade union movement and the negotiations that led to the new Constitution – the next challenge was to make that Constitution a living document. How could De Lille make the system work for her? She set out to be the first woman in South Africa to start a political party from scratch.

She made her intention public in 2003 and with elections in 2004 people around her said she was mad. Not a woman to back down from a challenge, she set to work to establish the Independent Democrats.

De Lille invested body and soul into the process. Setting the target to have 5000 members in all nine provinces she travelled the length and breadth of the country. It was a life of conferences, meetings, establishing branches and preparing for elections. For three years, her life was not her own. “I hardly saw my family but I had to do it.”

De Lille had achieved what she set out to do – create a party and run for elections but she hadn’t reckoned with how difficult it would be to sustain a political party. She encountered challenges from all sides, including chauvinism.

“Many of the male leaders could not handle a woman being a leader but I would say to them I am not your wife or your mother or your sister – and in any case I have a very small head so I won’t allow anyone to sit on it.”

The gender challenge made De Lille stronger and more determined to see the country succeed. By 2007 she took a moment to consider the political landscape: “Do we have a strong enough opposition – are we not too fractured as an opposition and should we not all come together?” From then the process of talking to other opposition parties began but not without a mandate from the bottom up. “The next challenge for the country is to build the political alternative,” she said. “People of South Africa want us to work together instead of against each other.”

De Lille said her positivity was largely influenced by her love and admiration for Nelson Mandela. “There are many days that you would feel tired and ask yourself – is it worth the while, do people appreciate what I am doing and then you think about Tata and what he has done for the country.” His call to the people before his retirement to continue to build the country and unite in diversity is like a personal calling for De Lille to not let him down. “We have to continue to achieve the values, visions and principles we fought for during apartheid. We have a difficult task ahead as a country in a transition – we have to transform society, no easy task for any nation, but it keeps me going every day.”

And when she does manage some time to herself, you’ll find De Lille on the golf course or at least practising her swing in the office. “I play once a week if time permits on a Sunday morning. It’s my exercise for the week.”

The girl from Beaufort West loves the sea. “It has a very calming affect on me. I can watch the sea for hours – you need to have a bit of balance in your life,” she said. Besides her son and daughter she considers the four huskies at home her babies as well. De Lille loves animals and switches off from the office when she is with them

As somebody who invests 100% in her work, it was only when she was diagnosed with cancer in 1998 that she realised the importance of balance. “I realised that the world went on without me.”

Mother, wife, sister, grandmother and politician – there are many facets to Patricia de Lille – a woman who loves her country unconditionally – she has taken on challenges many would shy away from. carlyr@thenewage.co.za