Passionate politician sets her sights on parliament

TALI FEINBERG

Being number 71 on the Democratic Alliance (DA) parliamentary list and number 20 on the list for Gauteng, there is a good chance that this Jewish ward councillor will have a seat at the table after the May elections.

“I was seven when Denis was arrested. My mother had come to South Arica from Vilnius, and on the very day of his arrest, they revoked her permanent residency. My cousins and aunt came to live with us before going into exile. I would hear my aunt Esme crying every night,” she recalls.

It was this context that shaped her world view. Although deeply committed to Jewish values of tikkun olam (healing the world), she found the ANC of her uncle too extreme, and the destruction of his family too high a cost.

So she joined the Progressive Party as a student, taking on small acts of resistance that would make a big impact. For example, she would sign leases for black, coloured, and Indian friends so that they could live closer to university, and would not have to wake up at 04:00 to travel to lectures.

“I couldn’t subscribe to fanaticism on any level. I had to be on very strong middle ground. For me, it was more about the human side of life,” she says. She therefore found her political home in the Progressive Party, but she would still pay a price. She once had to escape a building that was set alight, and a special branch car was a regular feature outside her family’s home – an ever present threat of deportation for her mother.

Hicklin became a medical journalist, and is particularly passionate about fighting rheumatic heart disease in South African children. This easily preventable condition can be avoided by giving penicillin to a child with strep throat, but too many are not treated correctly.

The result is a huge strain on the child, and our health system. She hopes that if she gets a seat in parliament, she will join the health portfolio to make sure that protocol is put in place for such preventable diseases.

After five decades of voluntary activism, Hicklin formalised her political commitment. She studied in the DA’s electoral college, wrote exams, was put through practical tests and debates, and was rigorously evaluated before being elected councillor of the Midrand ward.

She points out that all DA politicians go through such training and high standards, meaning that they are not allowed to stand for election unless they are fit for the job.

They are “a diverse bunch.” she says. “People ask me how I can have a Muslim councillor as a friend. I respond, ‘how can I not?’ I am a staunch Jewess, and used to be in shul every Shabbat and every chag. Politics doesn’t allow me to do that, but it does allow me to live my Jewish values.

Hicklin says that “We need to fight for each other in this country. A lot of South African Jews don’t see the battle for equality as their fight. But someone fought for my mother to get out of Europe. If we don’t fight for others, who will be left to fight for us? We need to work for a better South Africa – both for my son and my domestic worker’s son.”

She thinks that South Africans “like labels too much. If they can fit you into a box, then they’re comfortable. But I don’t want to be compartmentalised. I’m a humanitarian, but also a capitalist and a realist.”

Hicklin’s lack of cynicism and her passion for the country are clear. “This country is 100% pregnant with opportunity. We can turn it into the golden breadbasket of Africa. We have the most phenomenal resources, the most fantastic people, and the best Constitution in the world. We just need to learn to live with each other and to care.”

She says that state ownership and distribution of the land is a recipe for disaster. “A person owning land has a sense of worth, dignity, and value. He can take out a loan against that land, and put his child through school. The government should have distributed the acres of unused land that it owns decades ago.”

She also calls for the elimination of red tape, and the prioritisation of entrepreneurship. “We want to support small businesses. You can’t pat yourself on the back for having 20 million people on social grants. We would rather have four million retired people on social grants, and the rest starting up their own businesses, or going through the DA’s job opportunity centres.”

Hicklin could have chosen to keep her political activism at a provincial level. If she gets a seat in parliament, however, “most of my time will be spent at airports. But I am determined to change the status quo and direct policy on a national level, especially in primary healthcare.”

So, she will make sacrifices in her own way, because the pride and passion of that seven-year-old girl who saw her uncle arrested is still with her every day. “Let me meet you and your friends. We can sit around a table and talk about what you want for South Africa,” she says. “You are welcome to contact me on my cell phone. Let me inspire you, and fire you up to fight for this country.”

• Madeleine Hicklin can be contacted on 082 744 5155 or ward112jhb@gmail.com