Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07PRETORIA3100
2007-09-04 14:21:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Pretoria
Cable title:  

FORMER DEPUTY HEALTH MINISTER'S DISMISSAL SHOULD

Tags:  PGOV KHIV SF 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO7587
RR RUEHDU RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHSA #3100 2471421
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 041421Z SEP 07
FM AMEMBASSY PRETORIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1525
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE
RUEHTN/AMCONSUL CAPE TOWN 4794
RUEHDU/AMCONSUL DURBAN 9131
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
C O N F I D E N T I A L PRETORIA 003100 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/17/2017
TAGS: PGOV KHIV SF
SUBJECT: FORMER DEPUTY HEALTH MINISTER'S DISMISSAL SHOULD
HAVE LIMITED PRACTICAL IMPACT

REF: A. PRETORIA 1021


B. PRETORIA 2937

C. PRETORIA 2957

Classified By: Charges d'Affaires Don Teitelbaum. Reasons 1.4(b) and (
d).

C O N F I D E N T I A L PRETORIA 003100

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/17/2017
TAGS: PGOV KHIV SF
SUBJECT: FORMER DEPUTY HEALTH MINISTER'S DISMISSAL SHOULD
HAVE LIMITED PRACTICAL IMPACT

REF: A. PRETORIA 1021


B. PRETORIA 2937

C. PRETORIA 2957

Classified By: Charges d'Affaires Don Teitelbaum. Reasons 1.4(b) and (
d).


1. (C) South African National AIDS Council (SANAC) member Dr.
Fazel Randera believes the August 8 firing of Deputy Health
Minister Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge is likely to have a
limited impact on the implementation of South Africa's second
National Strategy on HIV and AIDS (2007-2011) now that Health
Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang is back with the full
support of President Mbeki. Randera explained to PolOff that
Routledge had very little responsibility until
Tshabalala-Msimang took a leave of absence last October. He

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suspects that Routledge's outspokenness over the past year
was in large part born out of her frustration of not being
allowed to contribute for so long. However, "it was only a
matter of time before (Health Minister Manto)
Tshabalala-Msimang put Routledge back on a tight leash," he

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argued. In fact, numerous press reports over the past couple
of months have already noted that Tshabalala-Msimang has been
keen to reassert authority over her turf.


2. (C) Randera also commended Routledge's ability to work
with civil society and international organizations, which
gave her a high profile, but argued that she was not the only
talent at the Ministry. He then singled out the head of the
government's AIDS unit, Dr. Nomonde Xundu, who played a
significant role in developing the country's new strategy on
HIV/AIDS. Randera suspects Xundu was instructed by the
Health Minister to allow a few cosmetic changes from the
previous strategy, but ended up making drastic changes,
including giving a long-overdue voice to civil society
groups. (NOTE: Press reports note that Xundu recently
resigned from the Ministry of Health due to her deteriorating
relationship with the Health Minister, but withdrew her
notice pending negotiations with the Health Department's
Director-General. END NOTE)


3. (C) Randera, who co-authored South Africa's first National
Strategy on HIV/AIDS, also pointed out that even if Routledge
had stayed on, he does not believe South Africa would have
been able to meet all of its ambitious targets for this year
(Ref A). SANAC, of which he is a member (Ref B) and which
was reinvigorated by Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ncguka
during the Health Minister's absence, also has not convened
since the Health Minister's return. He also has heard that
Treasury is now backtracking on its budget commitments for
the strategy.


4. (C) COMMENT: Routledge's dismissal continues to elicit a
firestorm of criticism, though the criticisms now appear more
centered around the Health Minister's controversial tenure
(Ref C) and President Mbeki's failed attempt to have
Routledge disciplined by the ANC, than around Routledge
herself. Post agrees with Randera that Routledge alone was
unlikely to overhaul South Africa's overburdened and
understaffed health care system, or its response in the fight
against HIV/AIDS, as long as Health Minister
Tshabalala-Msimang remains in charge. Routledge may have

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been a loose cannon as far as Mbeki and Tshabalala-Msimang
were concerned, but the fact is, she represented mainstream
views of national and international AIDS practitioners and
activists. As a result, she tempered critics' opinions of
South Africa's response and made herself a champion for
activists who had been made to feel unwelcome. END COMMENT.
Teitelbaum