Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma

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Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma (2008)

Nkosazana Clarice Dlamini-Zuma (born January 27, 1949 in Pietermaritzburg ) is a South African doctor and politician ( African National Congress , ANC). From 2012 to 2017 she was Commission Chair of the African Union (AU). She was previously Foreign Minister and Interior Minister of South Africa in the government of her former husband Jacob Zuma for many years . In 2018 she was appointed Minister of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation in the Presidency to the Ramaphosa I cabinet , and in 2019 she moved to the Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs department .

Life

The eldest of eight children of a Catholic teacher grew up in the rural Drakensberg region of Natal and claims to be a member of the Zulu people . Her parents were Ndlela and Williebrod Dlamini. When her father switched between different primary schools in what was then Polela district for professional reasons , she got to know several of these educational institutions as a child. Dlamini-Zuma spent the later early school years with an aunt in Umlazi on the outskirts of Durban . Her mother was an active member of the Young Women's Christian Association (German as: "Association of Young Christian Women") and taught at Polela Health Center (German: "Polela Medical Center") dietetics . The parents were convinced of the necessity of education for girls, for which they received little support in their environment at the time. She spent the last three years of school up to her Matric with the main subjects chemistry, mathematics, physics and biology.

After graduating from Amanzimtoti Zulu Training School (formerly Adams Mission School ) in 1967, she moved to the University of Zululand , which she left in 1971 with a bachelor's degree in zoology and botany . During this time she became a member of the Catholic Society and the South African Students' Organization (SASO), which was being formed at the time . Here Dlamini-Zuma took part in many political activities and demonstrations against the appointment of Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi as Chancellor of the university.

After her first degree, Dlamini-Zuma worked as a research engineer at the University of Natal Medical School . Here she enrolled in 1973 for a medical degree that was not completed here. During this stay she came more and more into contact with actors and goals of the Black Consciousness Movement . Eventually she rose to be vice president of the South African Students' Organization . While in Swaziland , she met ANC members in exile, including Thabo Mbeki and Albert Dhlomo. Here she opted for political work underground. Consequently, she took on the role of Secretary (1975-1976) of the Medical Students' Representative Council . This and her function as SASO vice-chairman led to active observation by the South African security police. After all, she was a member of the secret ANC regional organization in Durban and lived in a student residence, the Alan Taylor university residence in the Durban district of Wentworth . Here she was involved in organizing the escape of arrested demonstrators from the custody of the security police. Since 1976, this activity has caused its "operational support" by BOSS employees . She then decided to flee South Africa via Botswana to Tanzania . There she worked for the ANC agency in Dar es Salaam and for Radio Freedom . During this time I participated in the ANC contacts to the Organization for African Unity in Addis Ababa . She traveled to the International Students Union Conference in Ghana as the ANC representative . This was followed by stays in Europe for political consultations in the Federal Republic of Germany , the CSSR , Great Britain , Ireland , the Netherlands and Sweden .

Dlamini-Zuma had been in political exile in Great Britain for a long time since 1977 to support the ANC representative in London with solidarity work. There she was involved as chairwoman of the ANC Youth Section from 1977 to 1978 .

Also in 1978 she graduated from the University of Bristol with a bachelor's degree in medicine ( medicine and surgery ). Here Raymond Hoffenberg , a respected exiled South African doctor, helped her to overcome formal and bureaucratic hurdles. In the same year she headed the ANC delegation during the World Youth Conference in Moscow .

Stations as a doctor led Dlamini-Zuma to Bristol to the Frenchay Hospital (1978-1979), where she worked in surgery. She had other medical positions in Berkshire at the Canadian Red Cross Memorial Hospital (1979–1980) and in Swaziland at the Mbabane Government Hospital (1980–1985) in the children's department. Their first two daughters, Msholozi (* 1982) and Gugulethu Zuma-Ncube (* 1985) were born during this time.

She returned to the UK for a second degree on a fellowship from the African Education Trust . Here she graduated from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine with a diploma in Tropical Children's Medicine in 1986 . Between 1987 and 1989 her focus was on pediatric medicine in London at Whittington Hospital . From 1987 to 1988 she served as Vice -Chair of the ANC's Regional Political Committee in Great Britain. After the post of director of the British Health Refugee Trust and Development Organization (1988-1990) she went back to Africa and worked for the ANC Health Department in Zambia Lusaka (1989-1990). Her children Nukuthula and Thuthukile were born in Zambia.

From 1991 to 1994 she did research at the Medical Research Council in Durban . The focus of this activity was illegal abortions , AIDS among women and AIDS in the area of ​​tension between opinion leaders. At the same time, Dlamini-Zuma continued to be politically active in Natal , where he took on managerial tasks for the ANC (1990–1992 chairman of the regional health committee South Natal; 1991–1993 chairman of the women's league ). In addition to numerous other functions, she has been a council member for the Center for Social and Development Studies at the University of Natal since 1992 .

As South African Secretary of State with her US counterpart Hillary Clinton (2009)

After the end of apartheid and the first general elections in South Africa in 1994, Dlamini-Zuma won a seat in parliament and was appointed Minister of Health in Nelson Mandela's government in May . In this position she prevailed against the opposition of the pharmaceutical industry and opened the South African market for cheaply produced drugs and generics from third countries. She also campaigned for medical care for pregnant women and children, the legalization of abortions on request and a strict ban on smoking in public places. The latter engagement earned her the Tobacco Free World Award of the World Health Organization in 1999 . On the other hand, an AIDS education musical financed by the Ministry of Health , which was only performed twice after corruption, turned into a scandal .

In December 1994, she was elected to the Executive Committee of the Bloemfontein ANC Congress.

From 1999 to 2009 Dlamini-Zuma served as the Foreign Minister of South Africa under President Thabo Mbeki . Her "silent diplomacy" against the Zimbabwean dictator Robert Mugabe , which was unsuccessful , came under international criticism . From May 11, 2009 to October 2, 2012 she was Interior Minister in the government of Jacob Zuma , while her successor in the Foreign Ministry was Maite Nkoana-Mashabane . Dlamini-Zuma was married to the self- confessed polygamist Jacob Zuma from 1982 to 1998 (sometimes the dates of the marriage vary and range from 1972 to 1997). This connection resulted in four daughters. Dlamini-Zuma is considered resolute and hardworking, but also an impatient and result-oriented politician.

On July 15, 2012, Dlamini-Zuma was the first woman ever to be elected Commission Chairperson of the African Union . She won a power struggle with the necessary two-thirds majority against the previous Gabonese incumbent Jean Ping . Dlamini-Zuma saw her victory as a symbol of the emancipation of women in Africa. She stated that she wanted to make the AU “more efficient”. On January 30, 2017 was Chadians Moussa Faki Mahamat elected its successor as Commission President.

In December 2017, she ran for the office of party leader at the ANC convention, but was defeated by Cyril Ramaphosa with 2261 to 2440 votes . On February 26, 2018, he appointed her to his cabinet as Minister of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation in the Presidency (for example: "Minister for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation"). In 2019 she became Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (for example: "Minister for Cooperation and Traditional Affairs").

Awards (selection)

Web links

Commons : Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma  - collection of images, videos and audio files
  • The veteran - portrait at faz.net, July 16, 2012
  • Entry in Who's Who Southern Africa (English)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Shelag Gastrow: Who's Who in South African Politics. Number 5 . Johannesburg 1995, pp. 312-315
  2. ↑ a b c South African Dlamini-Zuma elected to the head of the African Union , Spiegel Online (accessed on July 16, 2012)
  3. ↑ a b c d e Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma . In: Internationales Biographisches Archiv 48/2008 from November 25, 2008, supplemented by news from MA-Journal up to week 05/2012 (accessed via Munzinger Online )
  4. ↑ a b Zimbabwe: Zuma Visit - Linking Past, Present and Future . In: Africa News , August 27, 2009 (accessed via LexisNexis Wirtschaft )
  5. ↑ a b Thomas Scheen: African Union: The Veteran at faz.net, July 16, 2012 (accessed on July 16, 2012).
  6. ↑ Entry ( memento of March 6, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) in Who's Who Southern Africa (English; accessed on July 16, 2012)
  7. ↑ South African new head of the African Union commission at nachrichten.at, July 16, 2012 (accessed on July 16, 2012).
  8. ↑ Summit: South Africa's interior minister leads African Union at zeit.de, July 16, 2012 (accessed on July 16, 2012).
  9. ↑ S Africa's ANC picks Ramaphosa as leader. BBC (online), December 18, 2017, accessed December 18, 2017 .
  10. ↑ Provincial Gazette for KwaZulu-Natal (English), accessed August 18, 2016
personal data
SURNAME Dlamini-Zuma, Nkosazana
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Dlamini-Zuma, Nkosazana Clarice
BRIEF DESCRIPTION South African politician
DATE OF BIRTH January 27, 1949
PLACE OF BIRTH Pietermaritzburg