FORMER DEPUTY HEALTH MINISTER'S DISMISSAL SHOULD

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 SIPDIS 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 SIPDIS 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 SIPDIS 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