16 Things you don’t know about Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma

1.  Full Name Nkosazana Clarice Dlamini-Zuma

2.  Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma was born on the 27 January 1949 in Natal, the eldest of eight children

3.  Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma 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

4.  During her studies in the early 1970s, Nkosazana 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

5.  During the same year Nkosazana 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 ex-husband, current ANC party president Jacob Zuma.

6.  In 1985 Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma returned to the United Kingdom 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 organisation.

7.  During the Convention for a Democratic South Africa (CODESA) negotiations in 1992, Nkosazana 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.

8.  During her tenure as Minister of Health she de-segregated the health system and gave poor people access to free basic healthcare. However, an AIDS education play – Sarafina II – she commissioned was criticised by the Public Protector for poor financial controls and poor commissioning procedures. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma agreed to shelve the play following the Public Protector’s report. Dlamini-Zuma was also criticised for supporting the anti-AIDS drug, Virodene, which was cheaper than other drugs but rejected by the scientific community as ineffective

9.  Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma married Jacob Zuma, with whom she has four children, Msholozi (born 1982), Gugulethu Zuma-Ncube(born 1985) married to one son of a Zimbabwean politician and President of MDC party Welshman Ncube, Thuli (Nokuthula Nomaqhawe) (born 1987) and Thuthu (Thuthukile Xolile Nomonde) (born 1988). They divorced in June 1998

10.  Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma brought forward the Tobacco Products Control Bill in 1999, which made it illegal for anyone to smoke in public places

11.  Following the 1999 general election, Nelson Mandela retired as President and was replaced by Thabo Mbeki. Mbeki appointed Dlamini-Zuma as Minister of Foreign Affairs.

12.  Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma was 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 preferred 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.

13.  On 22 September 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 instead was retained as the Foreign Minister in Kgalema Motlanthe’s cabinet

14.  In the Zuma cabinet Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma served as Minister of Home Affairs.

15.  On 15 July 2012, Dlamini-Zuma was elected by the African Union Commission as its chairperson, making her the first woman to lead the organisation (including its predecessor, the Organisation of African Unity). She took office on 15 October 2012

16.  Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma has been awarded honorary Doctor of Law degrees by both the University of Natal (1995) and the University of Bristol (1996).