Sacked deputy health minister Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge has confirmed she was dismissed by President Thabo Mbeki for her unannounced visit to East London’s Frere Hospital and her unauthorised trip to Madrid.
Addressing a press conference broadcast live on Cape Talk radio on Friday, she said she wanted the facts, ”as I see them”, to receive an airing.
”I’ve been fired for paying an unannounced visit to Frere Hospital on the 13th of July 2007 and for my response to the shocking situation I found in the maternity ward.”
This visit to Frere Hospital was prompted by the much publicised story broken by the Daily Dispatch newspaper after a two-month under-cover investigation into why babies died at Frere Hospital, she said.
”The other reason for my dismissal is the much publicised trip I undertook to Madrid to address a conference hosted by … the International Aids Vaccine Initiative.
”What is at issue here is that I went to Madrid without permission from the president.
”I can disclose now that I know the reason the president did not approve this trip, because he told me on Tuesday.
”He believed that the meeting was not for politicians. He believed that politicians have nothing to say in a conference of technocrats and researchers.
”This I was not aware of prior to my departure for Madrid. I do not believe that the president had all the facts relating to the two incidents and the actions I took,” Madlala-Routledge said.
Responding to a question, she said she had no intention of challenging her dismissal in court.
On her visit to Frere Hospital, she had ”considered it my duty to respond quickly to a report of babies dying at the reported rate in one of our facilities.
”I had no intention to create ‘hype’, as alleged by the chairperson of the health portfolio committee, James Ngculu.
”My comments that the situation constituted a national emergency were informed by the shocking realisation that some of the deaths were avoidable, and that the situation I observed was not unique to Frere Hospital.”
On her trip to Madrid, Madlala-Routledge said she had not deliberately defied Mbeki by flying to Spain without his permission.
”I acted in good faith in the belief that our president had approved the trip … Often, ministers and deputy ministers travel at short notice, and this does not allow enough time to get the necessary stamp of approval.
”When I realised the trip had not been approved by the president, I had a huge dilemma because besides the huge cost to the department, I could not be seen to defy the president by attending the meeting. So I did not attend … I took the first available flight back home,” she said.
‘I was just doing my job’
Asked whether she was fired for ”doing her job”, Madlala-Routledge said the Constitution clearly stated the authority and responsibilities of members of the executive.
”I agree with you … I was just doing my job. And I did follow protocol, because one of the things that was said was I like to act outside of the structures, and I don’t know what this means, because we have our Constitution.
”I had delegated functions, although it was difficult at first before acting Minister [Jeff] Radebe was in the ministry for a short while, because it was he who realised that the [delegated functions] were meaningless without authority.
”And he signed, giving me authority. Just before I was dismissed that authority was withdrawn by the Minister of Health [Manto Tshabalala-Msimang].
”So, the answer to your question is that indeed I had the responsibility and obligation to go and find out why babies are dying…”
The aborted trip to Madrid was a lost opportunity for South Africa, Madlala-Routledge said.
Spain’s health minister spoke at the meeting, and she was due to speak on the importance and urgency of finding a vaccine, particularly focusing on Southern Africa.
On why she refused to resign when asked by Mbeki, she said she would like to know what processes were followed to establish that ”I had broken rules in how I organised my trip to Madrid”.
”But at that stage already, I did not think that doing what I was paid to do was wrong.”
Asked whether she had been ”set-up” by Tshabalala-Msimang, Madlala-Routledge said ”I can’t say”.
”But I will say that when I spoke in the National Council of Provinces two years ago, and this is the time when I was almost sacked, the minister of health had said to me, and had not looked at me, ‘I’ll fix you’, and maybe she has fixed me.”
Asked who would take her position, she mentioned Dr Nomonde Xundu, the architect of the National Strategic Plan on HIV and Aids, as a possible candidate, saying: ”Somebody stronger than I who can better influence the department. But if I can make it as a member of Parliament, I hope I can help this person in any way I can.”
Madlala-Routledge said she had been accused of not being a team player.
She said she had felt marginalised.
”I’ve been struggling to get my speeches on the Department of Health’s website. So I’m happy to have had this opportunity [to address a press conference].
Criticism
Since the news of her firing on Wednesday night went public, many voices, including the ANC Women’s League in the Northern Cape, Cosatu, the SACP, the Treatment Action Campaign, Independent Democrat leader Patricia de Lillie, the DA and private individuals have come out supporting her, querying the motives for her dismissal, write Rapule Tabane and Zukile Majova.
The ANC Women’s League in the Northern Cape also criticised Mbeki for firing her on the eve of Women’s Day.
After Madlala-Routledge refused a request from Mbeki for her to resign, Mbeki announced her firing on Wednesday night through a statement.
This followed a leak from the presidency in the City Press that she had travelled to Spain in defiance of Mbeki, who had denied her permission to travel to a conference on HIV vaccines in Spain.
Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi concluded that Madlala-Routledge was fired for her outspoken views on the HIV/Aids issue.
”In the absence of any other convincing explanation, we then conclude that she was fired because of her views on HIV/Aids, which were not shared by the president and Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang. It is very sad because this means the sheep mentality of following the leader will persist. It will deepen the culture of sycophancy among government ministers and officials.
”But all we can do is pay tribute to her. Thanks to her, government now has a five-year comprehensive HIV/Aids plan. Thanks to her there is unity between government and civil society and it is also thanks to her that we no longer have the mixed messages, and the spirit of Aids denialism is behind us,” said Vavi.
The TAC is also convinced that the trip to Spain was refused in order to discredit her and that it was part of an orchestrated campaign to fire her.
The TAC’s Mark Heywood said: ”We think Mbeki does not tolerate it when Cabinet ministers speak out publicly about government inefficiency.”
Heywood said: ”Maybe the problem was putting two people who are on diametrically opposite sides to one another in one ministry, because one reflects very badly on the other.
”And for political reasons, the president has decided which minister to sack.”
But, a director in the health department said the deputy minister deserved to be fired.
”This has been a classic case of a breach of protocol from someone who consistently had no respect for government protocol.
”There is nothing sinister about the decision of the presidency because these circumstances are similar to the circumstances that led to Winnie Mandela being dismissed from Cabinet.”
The source also denied that Madlala-Routledge embarked on the Spain trip as a result of a misunderstanding. ”She sent a letter requesting to leave on June 12, but she left on June 11.
”By the time the application was disapproved, she was already in Spain. So this miscommunication story doing the rounds in the media is nonsense.”
The South African Communist Party criticised the official stance that Mbeki did not have to justify his firing of Madlala-Routledge, saying it ignored deliberations from the recent ANC policy conference, which agreed on a review of ”presidential prerogative”.
Timeline
The beginning, 2004: Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge is appointed deputy minister of health, following her stint as deputy minister of defence.
December 2006: Mbeki’s Aids test. Following an interview with British newspaper the Sunday Telegraph, there were reports that she had called on President Thabo Mbeki to take an Aids test. She wins praise for her call from Cosatu, the TAC and other Aids activists, but in a later statement she says: ”Although I encourage people to test so that they know their HIV status, I did not, as a matter of fact, call upon the president to conduct a public test as claimed by the reports.”
February 2007: Manto Tshabalala-Msimang falls ill and is admitted to hospital for a liver transplant. Mbeki announces that Transport Minister Jeff Radebe will fill her position. Many see this as a slap in the face for Madlala-Routledge.
June 2007: Manto ”snubbed”. After a speedy recovery, Tshabalala-Msimang takes up her post again, but there is immediate controversy. Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka said Tshabalala-Msimang withdrew from the third South African Aids Conference because Madlala-Routledge was given a more prominent position at the conference.
July 2007: Mount Frere Hospital. A public row erupts between Tshabalala-Msimang and Madlala-Routledge over conditions at the Mount Frere Hospital in the Eastern Cape. Madlala-Routledge describes conditions at the hospital as a national emergency during a surprise visit following media reports of a dire shortage of equipment and staff, and management’s inaction on infant deaths. A few days later, Tshabalala-Msimang visits the hospital and says her deputy’s comments were based on untruths.
August 5 2007: Unauthorised trip. It is leaked to the media that Madlala-Routledge takes a consultant and her son on a trip to Spain without obtaining presidential approval, at a total cost of R160 000. Madlala-Routledge denies any wrongdoing.
August 7: Fired. Mbeki asks her to resign on Tuesday, but she refuses. She is sacked a day later.