Deborah Anne "Debbie" Schäfer (born 18 December 1966) is a

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

n politician and lawyer who served as the Western Cape Provincial Minister of Education and a Member of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament for the Democratic Alliance (DA) from 2014 to 2022. Prior to serving in the provincial government, Schäfer served as a Member of the National Assembly from 2009 to 2014.

Early life and family

Schäfer was born on 18 December 1966 in

Pietermaritzburg Pietermaritzburg (; ) is the capital and second-largest city in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa after Durban. It was named in 1838 and is currently governed by the Msunduzi Local Municipality. The town was named in Zulu after King ...

in the

Natal Province The Province of Natal (), commonly called Natal, was a province of South Africa from May 1910 until May 1994. Its capital was Pietermaritzburg. During this period rural areas inhabited by the black African population of Natal were organised int ...

, and is of South African descent. During her early years, her family relocated to Johannesburg, where she completed her primary school education. They later moved to

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

where she matriculated from Bergvliet High School in 1984.Debbie Schäfer – Western Cape Government
, AfricaCom. Retrieved on 27 August 2019 She achieved a Bachelor of Arts in English and Psychology from the

University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) (, ) is a public university, public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university status in 1918, making it the oldest univer ...

and, later on, in 1990, she received a

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

from the same university. She is married to Mark Schäfer. They have twin daughters, who both finished high school in 2017. Schäfer practised as an attorney of the Cape High Court for twelve years before starting her political career as a ward councillor.

Political career

Schäfer joined the Democratic Party in 1999. In 2002, she was elected to the Cape Town City Council as the councillor for ward 62, an area that included the suburbs of Wynberg and Constantia. In the 2006 elections, she was elected the councillor for ward 73. She served in this position until her

election An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative d ...

to the National Assembly in the 2009 general election. On 14 May 2009, the Democratic Alliance released a statement, in which Schäfer was appointed Shadow Deputy Minister of Police. Democratic Alliance Parliamentary Leader Athol Trollip reshuffled his Shadow Cabinet in September 2010 and appointed Schäfer as the Shadow Deputy Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development. She retained her position when newly elected Parliamentary Leader Lindiwe Mazibuko announced her Shadow Cabinet in February 2012. During her tenure in Parliament, she served on the Magistrates’ Commission. In the 2014 elections, she was elected to the

Western Cape Provincial Parliament The Western Cape Provincial Parliament (WCPP) is the legislature of the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is located at 7 Wale Street in Cape Town. The Provincial Parliament, along with the other provincial legislatures of South Africa, ...

. Premier

Helen Zille Otta Helene Maree (''née'' Zille ; born 9 March 1951), known as Helen Zille, is a South African politician. She has served as the Chairperson of the Federal Council of the Democratic Alliance since 20 October 2019. From 2009 until 2019, she w ...

announced in a subsequent statement that Schäfer had been appointed as the Provincial Minister of Education. She was sworn in by Western Cape Deputy Judge President Jeanette Traverso. Following her

re-election The incumbent is the current holder of an office or position. In an election, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the position that is up for election, regardless of whether they are seeking re-election. There may or may not be a ...

in May 2019, newly elected premier Alan Winde announced that Schäfer would remain as Provincial Minister of Education.

Resignation

On 21 April 2022, Schäfer announced that she would be resigning as the Provincial Minister of Education and as a Member of the Provincial Parliament to take up a job in the legal sector in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. She said: "It has been my great privilege to have served as Provincial Minister of Education in the Western Cape Government for the last eight years. I believe I have left the Department in a better place than I found it, and am proud of the work that we have, together, achieved. I am, however, now ready to bow out of public life." She also thanked former premier Zille and premier Winde for appointing her to their provincial cabinets. She will remain a member of the DA. The following day, Winde announced that the Provincial Minister of Finance and Economic Opportunities, David Maynier would succeed Schäfer as the Provincial Minister of Education. Schäfer resigned from the provincial government and provincial parliament on 15 May 2022.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Schafer, Debbie Living people Democratic Alliance (South Africa) politicians Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 2009–2014 Women members of the National Assembly of South Africa Members of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament White South African people Women members of provincial legislatures of South Africa 21st-century South African women politicians 1966 births