On Track and Making a Difference

COMMITTED TO CHANGE: HAS HELD PROVINCIAL AND NATIONAL POSITIONS IN GOVT SINCE 1994

- Hein Kaiser

Barbara Creecy has served in government since the dawn of democracy in South Africa. That's 30 years plus and presently she's minister of transport, a portfolio that some may say is a hand dealt that's guaranteed to fold before the flop.

She's the 13th occupant of the hot seat in what's probably one of the most complex and burdensome portfolios in government.

"It's hopefully a lucky number for me," Creecy said. The minister is armed with a sardonic, dry wit that's as enjoyable as her warmth that nurtures familiarity. She's the kind of person, it seems, who holds a room not by force, but by intellect paired with affability. And there are no airs and graces. What you see is what you get.

Creecy said her almost lifelong marriage to politics has been as demanding as it has been fulfilling. "It's been fun, it's been difficult, I've learned an enormous amount," she said. "I have had a very interesting life."

Creecy is an alumnus of Joburg's Roedean School and been a longstanding member of the ANC's national executive and working committees.

Her political career harks to 1979 when she joined the ANC, banned at the time, while a student at Wits University. There she graduated with an honours in political science before completing a master's in public policy and management at the University of London.