She was a member of the African National Congress and served as Premier of the Free State from 1999 to 2004.
She spent the later part of her childhood in the Heidedal township of Bloemfontein – predominantly an area for Coloured South Africans.
[3] Direko obtained her Master's in Education degree at the University of the Free State.
[4] Her political career began in 1977 when she became part of the delegation urging the then Minister of Education, Dr F. Hartzenberg, to allow black African students to register with the University of the Orange Free State; this effort was unsuccessful.
Through further negotiations with the ministry, the delegation succeeded in acquiring the establishment of the Vista University in Bloemfontein.