directorate
Stuart Hess
South Africa’s first black female gynaecologist, Nothemba Simalela, will become the new head of the national Aids directorate on World Aids Day next Tuesday.
A senior lecturer in obstetrics and gynaecology at the Medical University of South Africa (Medunsa), Simalela replaces Rose Smart.
Smart said she is leaving as director because she is tired, and the demands of the job are too heavy. “It is a 12- hour day, seven-days-a-week job,” Smart said. “I don’t think it’s possible for me to sustain that level of commitment.”
Simalela will work with Smart for the first six weeks in her new post to familiarise herself with the demands of job.
“Working in the Aids directorate offers a totally new challenge for me and will allow me to impact on a far broader section of the community,” Simalela said.
Simalela graduated from Medunsa with an MBChB. She obtained further qualifications from Medunsa and specialised in obstetrics and gynaecology.
The 39-year-old mother of three has worked with the Department of Health as a member of the national committee for confidential inquiries into maternal deaths. She has served as a director of the South African Medical Association.
Simalela says South Africans have to start talking about Aids. “I have worked with pregnant women with HIV, and they are in total denial,” she said.
The proposed budget for the directorate in the 1999/2000 financial year is R55 255 000.