From DJing to sitting in Parliament: Nick Clelland on how he tried to have positive impact on SA

Nick Clelland with Tony Leon at Bread Milk & Honey coffee shop in Cape Town after he returned as ambassador to Argentina. Picture: Supplied

Clelland studied political science at the University of Natal in 1994, the same year that the country celebrated its first free election. He paid his way through varsity by DJing. And it’s here, in Durban’s nightclubs, that it taught him how to read and influence the mood of large crowds – a skill that would become invaluable in his political career.

This move was not just a change of environment, but he stepped-up to contribute to the local and later national stage where the stakes were much higher than getting a crowd going. Starting as a local municipal councillor for the DA in 2006, Clelland soon made his mark with his pragmatic approach to governance and his relentless pursuit of policy effectiveness and implementation. His rise to a member of parliament a few years later saw him championing greater governmental transparency and efficiency.

But elected politics was not for him, and while politics pulsed through his veins, he felt that that he needed to step outside the bunfight, to look in. “It’s crucial that we prepare future leaders to think critically, act ethically, and navigate the complexities of modern governance with a clear, informed perspective,” Clelland said. He now consults mostly outside of South Africa to a wide geography of political leaders.

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