Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma
Encyclopedia
Nkosazana Clarice Dlamini-Zuma (born 27 January 1949) is a South Africa
n politician
and was an anti-apartheid activist. She was South Africa's Minister of Health from 1994 to 1999, under President Nelson Mandela
, then Minister of Foreign Affairs from 17 June 1999 to 10 May 2009, under Presidents Thabo Mbeki
and Kgalema Molanthe. She was moved to the position of Minister of Home Affairs
in the Cabinet of President Jacob Zuma
, her ex-husband, on 10 May 2009.
, the eldest of eight children. She completed high school at the Amanzimtoti Training College in 1967. In 1971, she started her studies in Zoology
and Botany
at the University of Zululand
, from where she obtained a Bachelor's Degree in Science
(BSc). She subsequently started her medical studies at the University of Natal
.
(ANC). At the same time, she was also a member of the South African Students Organisation and was elected as its deputy president in 1976.
During the same year Dlamini-Zuma fled into exile; she completed her medical studies at the University of Bristol
in 1978. She subsequently worked as a doctor at the Mbabane
government hospital in Swaziland
, where she met her future husband, current ANC party president Jacob Zuma
. In 1985 she returned to the United Kingdom
in order to complete a diploma in tropical child health from Liverpool University's School of Tropical Medicine
. After receiving her diploma, she worked for the ANC Regional Health Committee before accepting the position of director of the Health and Refugee Trust, a British non-governmental organization
.
(CODESA) negotiations in 1992, Dlamini-Zuma was part of the Gender Advisory Committee. After the first all-inclusive South African elections of 1994, she was appointed as Minister of Health in the cabinet of President
Nelson Mandela
.
During her tenure as Minister of Health she was especially noted for enacting the Tobacco
Products Control Bill in 1999, which made it illegal for anyone to smoke in public places. In June 1999, Dlamini-Zuma was appointed as Minister of Foreign Affairs in the cabinet of Thabo Mbeki
.
Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma has subsequently divorce
d from Jacob Zuma.
Dlamini-Zuma has been awarded honorary Doctor of Law degrees by both the University of Natal (1995) and the University of Bristol (1996).
after he fired Jacob Zuma, but declined it after talking to her children. The deputy presidency position was then offered to and accepted by Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka
.
She has been suggested as a possible ANC candidate for the Presidency in the 2009 election and for the leadership of the party. On November 15, 2007, she said that she would be willing to accept a nomination by the ANC, although her spokesman said the next day that she had not entered the succession debate in the ANC.
Dlamini-Zuma has been nominated for the party's deputy presidency by four provinces aligned to President Thabo Mbeki, while the five provinces backing her ex-husband ANC deputy president Jacob Zuma prefer her as the national chairperson.
She was elected to the ANC's 80-member National Executive Committee in December 2007 in 35th place, with 1,885 votes.
On September 22, 2008, Dlamini-Zuma resigned along with 10 other ministers of the South African cabinet, the deputy president and the president. After Thabo Mbeki
was ousted by the African National Congress
, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma was abroad and said to be filling her papers of resigning but she did not do it, she is still the Foreign Minister in Kgalema Motlanthe's cabinet.
In the Zuma
cabinet she is serving as the Minister of Home Affairs. Some have viewed this as demotion but independent analysts say that with Home Affairs smeared by incompetence and laziness, a person of Dlamini-Zuma caliber will clean the department, a move that might suggest that she is a sound leader.
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
n politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
and was an anti-apartheid activist. She was South Africa's Minister of Health from 1994 to 1999, under President Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, and was the first South African president to be elected in a fully representative democratic election. Before his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist, and the leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing...
, then Minister of Foreign Affairs from 17 June 1999 to 10 May 2009, under Presidents Thabo Mbeki
Thabo Mbeki
Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki is a South African politician who served two terms as the second post-apartheid President of South Africa from 14 June 1999 to 24 September 2008. He is also the brother of Moeletsi Mbeki...
and Kgalema Molanthe. She was moved to the position of Minister of Home Affairs
Minister of Home Affairs (South Africa)
The Minister of Home Affairs is the minister in the Cabinet of South Africa with responsibility for the Department of Home Affairs. The position includes responsibility for immigration, refugee and asylum policy, for the civil registry, and for the issuing of identity documents and passports.-List...
in the Cabinet of President Jacob Zuma
Jacob Zuma
Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma is the President of South Africa, elected by parliament following his party's victory in the 2009 general election....
, her ex-husband, on 10 May 2009.
Early years
Dlamini-Zuma, a Zulu, was born in NatalNatal Province
Natal, meaning "Christmas" in Portuguese, was a province of South Africa from 1910 until 1994. Its capital was Pietermaritzburg. The Natal Province included the bantustan of KwaZulu...
, the eldest of eight children. She completed high school at the Amanzimtoti Training College in 1967. In 1971, she started her studies in Zoology
Zoology
Zoology |zoölogy]]), is the branch of biology that relates to the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct...
and Botany
Botany
Botany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...
at the University of Zululand
University of Zululand
The University of Zululand has been designated to serve as the only comprehensive tertiary educational institution north of the uThukela River in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Its new status is in accordance with South Africa's National Plan for Higher Education aimed at eradicating inequity and...
, from where she obtained a Bachelor's Degree in Science
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
(BSc). She subsequently started her medical studies at the University of Natal
University of Natal
The University of Natal was a university in Natal, and later KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, that is now part of the University of KwaZulu-Natal. It was founded in 1910 as the Natal University College in Pietermaritzburg, and expanded to include a campus in Durban in 1931. In 1947, the university...
.
ANC
During her studies in the early 1970s, Dlamini-Zuma became an active underground member of the (then banned) African National CongressAfrican National Congress
The African National Congress is South Africa's governing Africanist political party, supported by its tripartite alliance with the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the South African Communist Party , since the establishment of non-racial democracy in April 1994. It defines itself as a...
(ANC). At the same time, she was also a member of the South African Students Organisation and was elected as its deputy president in 1976.
During the same year Dlamini-Zuma fled into exile; she completed her medical studies at the University of Bristol
University of Bristol
The University of Bristol is a public research university located in Bristol, United Kingdom. One of the so-called "red brick" universities, it received its Royal Charter in 1909, although its predecessor institution, University College, Bristol, had been in existence since 1876.The University is...
in 1978. She subsequently worked as a doctor at the Mbabane
Mbabane
-References:...
government hospital in Swaziland
Swaziland
Swaziland, officially the Kingdom of Swaziland , and sometimes called Ngwane or Swatini, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa, bordered to the north, south and west by South Africa, and to the east by Mozambique...
, where she met her future husband, current ANC party president Jacob Zuma
Jacob Zuma
Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma is the President of South Africa, elected by parliament following his party's victory in the 2009 general election....
. In 1985 she returned to the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
in order to complete a diploma in tropical child health from Liverpool University's School of Tropical Medicine
Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine
The Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine is a research and teaching institution focused on neglected tropical diseases and the control of diseases caused by poverty. It is a registered charity affiliated to the University of Liverpool...
. After receiving her diploma, she worked for the ANC Regional Health Committee before accepting the position of director of the Health and Refugee Trust, a British non-governmental organization
Non-governmental organization
A non-governmental organization is a legally constituted organization created by natural or legal persons that operates independently from any government. The term originated from the United Nations , and is normally used to refer to organizations that do not form part of the government and are...
.
Government
During the Convention for a Democratic South AfricaConvention for a Democratic South Africa
The apartheid system in South Africa was ended through a series of negotiations between 1990 and 1993 and through unilateral steps by the de Klerk government. These negotiations took place between the governing National Party, the African National Congress, and a wide variety of other political...
(CODESA) negotiations in 1992, Dlamini-Zuma was part of the Gender Advisory Committee. After the first all-inclusive South African elections of 1994, she was appointed as Minister of Health in the cabinet of President
President of South Africa
The President of the Republic of South Africa is the head of state and head of government under South Africa's Constitution. From 1961 to 1994, the head of state was called the State President....
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, and was the first South African president to be elected in a fully representative democratic election. Before his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist, and the leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing...
.
During her tenure as Minister of Health she was especially noted for enacting the Tobacco
Tobacco
Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...
Products Control Bill in 1999, which made it illegal for anyone to smoke in public places. In June 1999, Dlamini-Zuma was appointed as Minister of Foreign Affairs in the cabinet of Thabo Mbeki
Thabo Mbeki
Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki is a South African politician who served two terms as the second post-apartheid President of South Africa from 14 June 1999 to 24 September 2008. He is also the brother of Moeletsi Mbeki...
.
Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma has subsequently divorce
Divorce
Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...
d from Jacob Zuma.
Dlamini-Zuma has been awarded honorary Doctor of Law degrees by both the University of Natal (1995) and the University of Bristol (1996).
Other offices
She was offered the Deputy Presidency of South Africa by Thabo MbekiThabo Mbeki
Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki is a South African politician who served two terms as the second post-apartheid President of South Africa from 14 June 1999 to 24 September 2008. He is also the brother of Moeletsi Mbeki...
after he fired Jacob Zuma, but declined it after talking to her children. The deputy presidency position was then offered to and accepted by Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka
Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka
Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka is a South African politician who was Deputy President of South Africa from 2005 to 2008. She was the first woman to hold the position and was the highest ranking woman in the history of South Africa...
.
She has been suggested as a possible ANC candidate for the Presidency in the 2009 election and for the leadership of the party. On November 15, 2007, she said that she would be willing to accept a nomination by the ANC, although her spokesman said the next day that she had not entered the succession debate in the ANC.
Dlamini-Zuma has been nominated for the party's deputy presidency by four provinces aligned to President Thabo Mbeki, while the five provinces backing her ex-husband ANC deputy president Jacob Zuma prefer her as the national chairperson.
She was elected to the ANC's 80-member National Executive Committee in December 2007 in 35th place, with 1,885 votes.
On September 22, 2008, Dlamini-Zuma resigned along with 10 other ministers of the South African cabinet, the deputy president and the president. After Thabo Mbeki
Thabo Mbeki
Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki is a South African politician who served two terms as the second post-apartheid President of South Africa from 14 June 1999 to 24 September 2008. He is also the brother of Moeletsi Mbeki...
was ousted by the African National Congress
African National Congress
The African National Congress is South Africa's governing Africanist political party, supported by its tripartite alliance with the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the South African Communist Party , since the establishment of non-racial democracy in April 1994. It defines itself as a...
, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma was abroad and said to be filling her papers of resigning but she did not do it, she is still the Foreign Minister in Kgalema Motlanthe's cabinet.
In the Zuma
Zuma
-People:* Jacob Zuma , the President of South Africa and the African National Congress* Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma , South African Minister of Foreign Affairs and Jacob Zuma's ex-wife* Sibusiso Zuma -People:* Jacob Zuma (b. 1942), the President of South Africa and the African National Congress*...
cabinet she is serving as the Minister of Home Affairs. Some have viewed this as demotion but independent analysts say that with Home Affairs smeared by incompetence and laziness, a person of Dlamini-Zuma caliber will clean the department, a move that might suggest that she is a sound leader.