Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge

Who is Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge?

Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge 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. President Thabo Mbeki dismissed her from the Cabinet on 8 August 2007, after which she was automatically reduced to her role as a member of parliament representing the African National Congress. On 25 September 2008, she became Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, serving in that capacity until resigning from Parliament in early May 2009. She has been a member of the South African Communist Party since 1984.

Madlala-Routledge is well known for helping combat AIDS in South Africa, and is considered by many to have resisted government denial of the severity of the epidemic. She was also an opponent of the use of alternative medicine treatments of HIV in place of scientifically tested methods.