A self-proclaimed communist who became an idol of the opposition, the “bourgeois” media and global capital institutions, has ended up in conflict with the government she represented.
This is how one can sum up the three-year period of Nozizwe ÂMadlala-Routledge as the deputy minister of health, which ended last week. She was dismissed for, among other things, flying to Spain with her son and a consultant despite her request to travel being disapproved by the president.
Madlala-Routledge spent her first two years in the health portfolio not being a prominent figure. She had been allocated the areas of health technology, laboratory and mortuaries. Not much progress happened in these areas.
Her public profile rose following last year’s Aids conference in Toronto, where she made international headlines with statements alleging a lack of political leadership in the country’s response to HIV and Aids.
While the media focus has mainly been on her conflict with Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-ÂMsimang over HIV and Aids, Madlala-Routledge alienated more than a few people in government through her disregard for protocol, procedures and policy development mechanisms.
When there was much media focus on the issue of learners becoming pregnant at schools, she told a TV station that the life-skills programme of the department of education should be overhauled because it was not working.
A Pretoria newspaper reported her earlier this year questioning the promotion of a senior South African National Defence Force official, who she said was still facing charges of sexual harassment lodged by her private secretary while she was still deputy minister of defence.
An urgent letter to defence authorities might as well have rendered the outcomes she wanted regarding this matter, rather than a statement to a newspaper. Many platforms were available to her to discuss the effectiveness of the education life-skills programme rather than attacking this flagship youth development programme of government on TV.
The Constitution states that health is a function of both national and provincial government. The national department is responsible for broad policy direction, and the provinces are responsible for running the hospitals. This division of responsibilities requires a delicate balance that respects the constitutional powers of provincial departments while maintaining national cohesion — and this became a challenge for Madlala-Routledge.
When visiting Frere Hospital after a newspaper report alleged that it was experiencing a high level of maternal and infant mortality as a result of lack of equipment and other problems, Madlala-Routledge declared a “national emergency” to her invited media without consulting any other government authority. The effect of such a declaration on improving service delivery is yet to be felt.
Her superior, Tshabalala-ÂMsimang, used a different approach. She appointed a team of officials with expertise in maternal and child health to investigate, and their recommendations are being implemented by the national and provincial Âgovernments.
The current environment, preoccupied with what is termed a succession debate in the ANC, has unfortunately led some analysts to suggest that the decision to fire Madlala-Routledge had something to do with her recent election to the central committee of the SACP. Others mentioned that she comes from KwaZulu-Natal, as if being from that province predetermines a person’s outlook.
Her communist principles are not beyond reproach either, considering her proposal to call in the World Bank to review the national health system. Those familiar with the programmes championed by the World Bank in the rest of our continent will understand that this would have meant the end of such policies as free healthcare for pregnant and lactating women, children under five years and people with disabilities. Fortunately, this proposal was immediately rejected.
Whatever her intensions were, Madlala-Routledge was loved by some international bodies that would like to change policies that are part of government developmental agenda. She provided a great opportunity for the opposition to attack health policies in particular, and she gave great soundbites to the media — but none of this was very helpful to the institution she represented — the government of the people of South Africa.
Sibani Mngadi is spokesperson for the department of health