Ms Nkosazana Clarice Dlamini-Zuma

Prior to her appointment as minister of home affairs in May 2009, Nkosazana Clarice Dlamini-Zuma held two ministerial positions: minister of health from 1994 until 1999, and minister of foreign affairs for the following ten years. A medical doctor by profession, Dlamini-Zuma holds a BSc in zoology and botany from the University of Zululand, completing her medical studies at the University of Bristol while in exile. She has a diploma in tropical child health from the University of Liverpool. Dlamini-Zuma practised as a medical doctor in Britain and Swaziland before being deployed by the ANC to Zambia where her responsiblities included helping to draft the ANC’s post-apartheid health policy. She returned to South Africa in 1990 after an absence of nearly twenty years. Dlamini-Zuma’s political activities began when she was a student. While in exile in Britain she chaired the youth section of the ANC and also served as deputy chair, then chair, of the movement’s regional political committee. Dlamini-Zuma has served as chairman of the ministers’ council of the African Union (AU) and deputy chairman of UNAids.