Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Doctor Nkosazana Clarice Dlamini-Zuma (born 27 January 1949) is a South African politician and was an anti-apartheid activist. Since 17 June 1999 she has been the South African Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Dlamini-Zuma, a Zulu, was born in Natal, the oldest 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.
During her studies in the early 1970s, Dlamini-Zuma became an active underground member of the (then banned) African National Congress (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, former Deputy President of South Africa 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.
During the Convention for a Democratic South Africa (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 divorced 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).
