In her previous lives, Marian Shinn has tackled journalism and PR, which in a way both involve reporting or supporting activities that you aren't actively doing for yourself.
Those days are long gone. Now Shinn is the shadow minister of communications with the Democratic Alliance (DA). She despairs as much as any of us over the parlous state of ICASA, telecoms legislation and the SABC. Yet, unlike most of us, she's now actively able to do something, although the ability to force real change may only come in 2019, or 2014, if the DA puts in an astonishing show at the elections.
Shinn slots me in for a meeting when she flies up to Johannesburg for a day of appointments. We talk about her gruelling schedule, made worse because, as a member of the opposition, there are no lackeys to do the research or write your speeches.
"It's a hell of a lot of hard work, simply because you never know enough. You run from one meeting to the next without much time to prepare your documentation properly, and you work long hours. I look forward to getting into Cabinet so I'll have people to do all of this for me. Then I can swan around going overseas and buying shoes," she says, in a direct dig at the battle-scarred but rather well-heeled former communications minister, Dina Pule.
Ancient history
Many people in the IT industry - at least those of mature years - will remember Shinn for editing the country's first magazine for business users of IT.
Yet she says switching from hard news to trade papers was a mistake, and quitting one duff job to accept another was a second error. "Obviously I chose bum employers. I decided if I was going to put my sweat into something, it was going to be for my own profit, so I stared a PR business."
That hasn't answered my question of how she made the leap into politics, but Shinn tells a good tale rich with humour, so I listen happily as she carries on. "This is ancient history," she adds, looking anything but ancient.
Shinn has lived with her partner, retired photographer Charlie Ward, for 40 years, describing him as 'the other half of 'we''. They moved to Hermanus after deciding they didn't want to grow old in Johannesburg, and bought a restaurant, which was fun until they ran out of money. That drove them on to Cape Town, where Shinn resumed PR.
Her interest in politics started when she was a journalist in the 1980s. "My time on the Rand Daily Mail was a major influence in my life and a huge political education. I realised what apartheid was about. I realised the horrors."
I decided, instead of sitting at dinner parties and whining, I should do something a little more constructive about turning society into one that I wanted to live in.
Marian Shinn, DA
She joined anti-apartheid group the Five Freedoms Forum, and in 1989, was part of a delegation that met African National Congress (ANC) exiles in Lusaka. "Everybody fell instantly in love with Thabo Mbeki because he was attractive to look at and good to talk to," she remembers. The infatuation was spoiled by reality a decade later.
"I'd become totally disillusioned with what Mbeki was doing with South Africa - he was dividing it and re-racialising it, and that wasn't acceptable," she says. Then Jacob Zuma began to rise despite allegations of corruption. "I decided, instead of sitting at dinner parties and whining, I should do something a little more constructive about turning society into one that I wanted to live in. So I joined the local branch of the DA."
With the 2009 election approaching, Shinn stood for selection. A gruelling process was involved to check that candidates were competent to serve in Parliament. "I knew when I'd finished that I was a no-hoper," she jokes. But she made the list, and the DA won so many seats that she was offered a Parliamentary position.
"I was an unknown with no track record, so they put me where I could do least damage. I was given two deputy portfolios - science and technology, and tourism." She loved the science and technology slot, and became the DA spokesperson within a year.
When the shadow Cabinet was rejigged, Shinn was moved to the communications portfolio. "I was quite annoyed because I was really enjoying science and technology, but you go where you're sent."
Skills evaluation
She says it's difficult to tell how much influence she has on the sector. But she knows exactly what she would do if she were in charge. "I'd radically prune the Department of Communications of all its superfluous tasks. I would do a total evaluation of the executive management staff of all the entities, test their skills, abilities, vision and willingness, and get everyone to reapply for their jobs and advertise them widely, because we need the best ICT skills."
She would also open up the markets to make it easy for people to use communication technologies, and encourage software development. "Some of the developments going on for mobile apps are mind boggling, but we need less government interference. A lot of legislation is too cumbersome to work, and we need to make ICASA really independent to enable it to run efficiently," she says.
I was an unknown with no track record so they put me where I could do the least damage.
Marian Shinn, DA
She sees ICASA's problems as under-resourcing and inadequate staffing. "There are pockets of excellence, but the guys running the show don't necessarily have the skills and the guts to drive things through. There's conflict between the management and the councillors, and the council is hamstrung by the lack of resources and horribly inadequate internal control systems."
She is even more scathing of the department, suspecting the auction of LTE spectrum is being delayed by connivances to ensure their pals benefit financially from the spectrum.
If the DA can make itself more attractive to disillusioned black people seeking an alternative, Shinn may have her chance to finally make a difference.
In the meantime, I ask what she does in her spare time. "Remind me again what a social life is?" she jokes.
First published in the July 2013 issue of ITWeb Brainstorm magazine.
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