Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma

The Honourable Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma MP
Minister of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities
Incumbent
Assumed office 6 March 2023
President	Cyril Ramaphosa
Deputy	Sisisi Tolashe
Preceded by	Maite Nkoana-Mashabane
Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs
In office 30 May 2019 – 6 March 2023
President	Cyril Ramaphosa
Deputy	Parks Tau (Until 2020) Obed Bapela (2019–2023) Thembi Nkadimeng (2021–2023)
Preceded by	Zweli Mkhize
Succeeded by	Thembi Nkadimeng
Minister in the Presidency
In office 28 February 2018 – 29 May 2019
President	Cyril Ramaphosa
Preceded by	Jeff Radebe
Succeeded by	Jackson Mthembu
3rd Chairperson of the African Union Commission
In office 15 October 2012 – 30 January 2017
Deputy	Erastus Mwencha
Preceded by	Jean Ping
Succeeded by	Moussa Faki
Minister of Home Affairs
In office 10 May 2009 – 3 October 2012
President	Jacob Zuma
Preceded by	Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula
Succeeded by	Naledi Pandor
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office 14 June 1999 – 10 May 2009
President	Thabo Mbeki Kgalema Motlanthe
Preceded by	Alfred Nzo
Succeeded by	Maite Nkoana-Mashabane (International Relations and Cooperation)
21st Minister of Health
In office 10 May 1994 – 14 June 1999
President	Nelson Mandela
Preceded by	Rina Venter
Succeeded by	Manto Tshabalala-Msimang
Additional offices 1994–present Chancellor of the University of Limpopo Incumbent Assumed office 28 May 2019 Vice-Chancellor Mahlo Mokgalong Preceded by Reuel Khoza
Personal details
Born	Nkosazana Clarice Dlamini (1949-01-27) 27 January 1949 (age 75) Natal, Union of South Africa
Political party	African National Congress
Spouse	Jacob Zuma ​ ​ (m. 1982; div. 1998)​
Relations	Hlobisile Dlamini (sister)
Children	4, including Gugulethu and Thuthukile
Alma mater	University of Zululand University of Natal University of Bristol University of Liverpool
Occupation	Politician medical doctor diplomat anti-apartheid activist

Nkosazana Clarice Dlamini-Zuma (née Dlamini; born 27 January 1949), sometimes referred to by her initials NDZ, is a South African politician, medical doctor and former anti-apartheid activist. A longstanding member of the African National Congress (ANC), she currently serves as Minister in the Presidency responsible for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities and is the Chancellor of the University of Limpopo.

Dlamini-Zuma was born and educated in the former Natal province, where, as a student, she became involved in the Black Consciousness Movement through the South African Students' Organisation. Between 1976 and 1990, she lived in exile outside South Africa, primarily in the United Kingdom and Swaziland, where she practiced medicine and engaged in ANC activism. Since 1994, Dlamini-Zuma has served in the cabinet of every post-apartheid South African president. She was Minister of Health under President Nelson Mandela, and Minister of Foreign Affairs for ten years under Presidents Thabo Mbeki and President Kgalema Motlanthe. During the first term of President Jacob Zuma, she was Minister of Home Affairs, in which portfolio she was credited with turning around a dysfunctional department.

Under President Cyril Ramaphosa, she served as Minister in the Presidency for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, with responsibility for the National Planning Commission, before becoming Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, in which capacity she had a prominent and controversial role in regulating South Africa's lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic. She was absent from the South African government between October 2012 and January 2017, when she served as the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, making her the first woman to lead either that organisation or its predecessor, the Organisation of African Unity.^[1] Her tenure in that position was also controversial.

She has been a member of the ANC's National Executive Committee since the early 1990s, and has twice campaigned unsuccessfully for leadership positions in the party: in 2007, at the ANC's 52nd National Conference, Motlanthe defeated her to win the deputy presidency; while at the 54th National Conference in 2017, she narrowly lost the ANC presidency to Ramaphosa, the current incumbent.