Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma
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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.
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[edit] Early years
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.
[edit] ANC
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.
[edit] Government
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).
[edit] Other offices
She was offered the Deputy Presidency by Thabo Mbeki after he fired Jacob Zuma, but declined it after talking to her children. The deputy presidency position was then offered to Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka.[1]
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,[2][3] although her spokesman said the next day that she had not entered the succession debate in the ANC.[4]
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. [1] She was elected to the ANC's 80-member National Executive Committee in December 2007 in 35th place, with 1,885 votes.[5]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b Dlamini-Zuma can just 'pick 'n choose' Cape Times (IOL) November 27, 2007
- ^ Boyd Webb, "Is SA ready for a female president?", Cape Times (IOL), November 16, 2007.
- ^ "Dlamini-Zuma available for ANC leadership", Mail & Guardian Online, November 16, 2007.
- ^ "Dlamini-Zuma not in ANC succession debate", Mail & Guardian Online, November 16, 2007.
- ^ Brendan Boyle, "Winnie Mandela tops ANC election list", The Times (South Africa), December 21, 2007.
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