Cosatu condemns Deputy Ministers dismissal 08-08-07

 

COSATU condemns Deputy Minister's dismissal

The Congress of South African Trade Unions strongly condemns the dismissal of Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge. We recognise the President's prerogative to dismiss and employ ministers, and we do not know the reasons for the dismissal and were not consulted on the matter. But we are extremely disappointed that the Deputy Minister of Health's short tenure in office has been abruptly ended

Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge was without question one of the most successful and inspirational members of the government. All South Africans will be forever in her debt for her key role in uniting the country around a concerted campaign to prevent and treat HIV/Aids.

After years of prevarication and foot-dragging from the government, we had a political leader who appreciated the massive scale of the HIV/Aids catastrophe. She rejected the arguments of the denialists who were hell-bent on creating a negative image of a country which did not care about the millions dying of the virus and spread mixed messages about possible alternatives to the most effective, scientifically proven forms of treatment.

Almost single-handedly she engineered the adoption of the new National Strategic Plan to combat the epidemic and the restructuring of the SA National Aids Council. She forged a new spirit of unity between government and civil society. She sent a message to the nation and the world that we were now at last treating HIV/Aids with the seriousness it deserved and were determined to stop at nothing to reduce the levels of infection and step up the rate of treatment.

As a result we saw an immediate improvement in the rate at which antiretroviral treatment was being delivered, more people were being tested and we were hearing a more vigorous promotion of the prevention messages. The result has been that for the first time for years, there has been a levelling off of the rate of new infections and a real prospect of a decline in the incidence of the virus.

The Deputy Minister has also been outspoken on other health issues and refused to ignore the massive problems of under-staffing and under-resourcing at the state hospitals, which is leading to appalling levels of service to the majority who cannot afford private treatment.

Most recently she endorsed the view that the levels of child mortality at Frere hospital in East London constituted a national emergency. She refused to go along with the attempts by the Health Minister, and, unfortunately even the President, to downplay the seriousness of the crisis there. They both condemned the Daily Dispatch editor and reporters as spreading "lies", when in fact they were painting an accurate picture of a desperate situation in Frere, which mirrors the crisis in public hospitals across the land.

President Mbeki's decision to sack her puts all the progress achieved under Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge in jeopardy. It raises fears that the National Strategic Plan will come to nothing and that the President and Minister still cling to their view that the HIV/Aids pandemic has been exaggerated, and that there are other ways of combating it, like eating African potatoes and beetroot. It could mean a rejection of the Deputy Minister's scientifically based policies.

This dismissal also raises the danger that it is part of a broader drive to purge all political opponents from their positions. It will deepen a culture of sycophancy in which any one who criticises government policy, even if they are defending ANC policy, is afraid of being hung out to dry and will prefer to keep quiet and follow the leader.

Patrick Craven (National Spokesperson)
Congress of South African Trade Unions
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Braamfontein, 2017

P.O.Box 1019
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SOUTH AFRICA

Tel: +27 11 339-4911/24
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E-Mail: patr...@cosatu.org.za