1. Nozizwe Charlotte Madlala-Routledge was born on 29 June 1952 and 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.
20 Facts About Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge
1. 2.
Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge has been a member of the South African Communist Party since 1984.
3.
Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge was an opponent of the use of alternative medicine treatments of HIV in place of scientifically tested methods.
4.
Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge was brought up by her single mother in what was formerly the Zulu Kingdom, now the southern region of the province of KwaZulu-Natal.
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Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge 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.
6.
Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge obtained a diploma in medical technology, resulting in six years employment as a medical laboratory technologist.
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Nozizwe 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.
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Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge 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.
9.
On 17 June 1999, Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge became the first woman in South Africa to be appointed Deputy Minister of Defence.
10.
Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge held the post until April 2004, when she became Deputy Minister of Health.
11.
Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge 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.
12.
On 8 August 2007 on the eve of National Women's Day, Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge was removed from office as Deputy Minister of Health by President Thabo Mbeki.
13.
Nozizwe 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.
14.
Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge's sacking was criticized by opposition parties and AIDS organisations.
15.
Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge had reported that conditions at the maternity ward were a 'national disaster'.
16.
Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge first paid a visit to the hospital, which had not been scheduled nor communicated to the hospital, and after her report, Msimang subsequently paid a scheduled and announced visit to the hospital.
17.
Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge travelled to an international AIDS conference in Spain, which had received approval from the necessary departments but had been forwarded to the President for approval and thus, Presidential approval had not been granted at the time she made the trip.
18.
Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge is married to Jeremy Routledge whom she met in the early 1980s.
19.
Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge served with Cyril Ramaphosa on the working group that drew up the constitutional framework.
20.
Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge has received the Tanenbaum Peacemakers Award for her work in South Africa and has an honorary doctorate from Haverford College, Pennsylvania.