Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge

Nozizwe Charlotte Madlala-Routledge (born 29 June 1952) is a South African politician who was South Africa's Deputy Minister of Defence from 1999 to April 2004 and Deputy Minister of Health from April 2004 to August 2007.

Born on 29 June 1952 in Magog, Umzumbe, Nozizwe Charlotte Madlala is a South African of Zulu descent and a Quaker.

She was brought up by her single mother in what was formerly the Zulu Kingdom, now the southern region of the province of KwaZulu-Natal.

After schooling at Magog Primary and Fairview Primary, she matriculated at the Inanda Seminary School in Durban.

She went on to study medicine at the University of Natal but was distracted by Steve Biko of the Black Consciousness Movement who involved her in student politics.

After completing her first year, in 1971 she transferred to the University of Fort Hare to study for a BSc Once again coming under Biko's influence, she ran into trouble in 1972 for participating in a student boycott.

Refusing to apologize for her behaviour, she was dismissed.

Madlala-Routledge joined the underground African National Congress in 1979 and in 1983, she participated in establishing the Natal Organisation of Women, becoming its first chair.

After a prolonged period of imprisonment without trial, including a year in solitary confinement, she joined the South African Communist Party, first as regional chair in Natal, later as a member of its central committee.

She has been a member of the South African Communist Party since 1984.

Madlala-Routledge is well known for helping combat AIDS in South Africa, and is considered by many to have resisted government denial of the severity of the epidemic.

She was also an opponent of the use of alternative medicine treatments of HIV in place of scientifically tested methods.

In 1990, following the unbanning of political organisations, she became a member of the executive committee of the Women's National Coalition.

She also contributed to the work of the sub-council on the status of women and helped to prepare policy on the empowerment of women under the Reconstruction and Development Programme.

In 1991, she earned a diploma in adult education from the University of Natal.

During her studies, she compiled a manual on Lay Care for the Elderly and wrote easy readers in the Zulu language for newly literate adults.

She also obtained a diploma in medical technology, resulting in six years employment as a medical laboratory technologist.

In 1993, she won a seat in the country's revamped parliament.

On 17 June 1999, Madlala-Routledge became the first woman in South Africa to be appointed Deputy Minister of Defence.

She held the post until April 2004, when she became Deputy Minister of Health.

In that capacity, she strove relentlessly for more effective measures to combat AIDS which at the time was spreading rapidly and causing up to a thousand deaths per day.

More than five million South Africans or 12% of the population were reported to be infected with HIV.

She was strongly opposed by the minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang who preferred to rely on African treatments such as garlic, beet root and African potatoes rather than modern drugs.

After a long interruption, in 2006 Madlala-Routledge took up her studies once more.

Another factor was that in December 2006, she had described "denial at the very highest levels" over South Africa's policy on AIDS.

A press release by the presidency failed to cite any reason for her dismissal, apparently because the president was not obliged to give any reason for sacking a minister.

Madlala-Routledge later revealed in a press conference that the president had called a meeting asking for her to resign citing the unauthorised trip to an international AIDS conference in Spain but she had declined.

The next day she was officially dismissed.

Her sacking was criticized by opposition parties and AIDS organisations.

The Treatment Action Campaign commented: "This is a dreadful error of judgment that will harm public healthcare."

The dismissal had come after a long period of repeated public clashes with the Minister of Health, Manto Tshabalala-Msimang over national HIV/AIDS policy.

President Thabo Mbeki dismissed her from the Cabinet on 8 August 2007, after which she maintained her role as a member of parliament representing the African National Congress.

On 8 August 2007 on the eve of National Women's Day, Madlala-Routledge was removed from office as Deputy Minister of Health by President Thabo Mbeki.

There was some speculation as to the specific reason of her dismissal at the time, given certain speculative elements.

These included the long-term disharmony and disagreement on HIV/AIDS and other issues between herself and the Minister of Health (Dr. Manto Tshabalala-Msimang); her findings supporting a damning report by the Daily Dispatch on conditions in the maternity ward at Frere Hospital, which were contradicted by Tshabalala-Msimang and president Mbeki.

More importantly, she had failed to receive approval for a trip to an AIDS conference in Spain, which was declined by president Mbeki after she had left.

On 25 September 2008, she became Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, serving in that capacity until resigning from Parliament in early May 2009.

In 2010, she graduated from the University of Cape Town in social science, with majors in philosophy and sociology.

More recently, Madlala-Routledge served for a short period as the executive director of Inyathelo: The South African Institute for Advancement until March 2015 when she resigned following problems with the board.

In August 2021, it was announced that Madlala-Routledge would serve as the next director of the Quaker United Nations Office in Geneva.