Peacemaker in Action | Voice for Women’s rights | SA Struggle Stalwart
Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge is a highly respected political figure, with a distinguished history of campaigning for human rights and one of the few women at the negotiations for South Africa’s transition from apartheid as part of CODESA (the Convention for a Democratic South Africa). She served for fifteen years as a Member of the South African parliament (1994 – 2009). In 2008 she was elected Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly. Prior to that she served as Deputy Minister of Defence and as Deputy Minister of Health, during which time she challenged the denial of the HIV and AIDS crisis. During the transition she worked as Managing Secretary of the Transitional Executive Council’s Sub council on the Status of Women. In 1994 she was elected onto the Constituent Assembly which drafted and adopted South Africa’s new Constitution.
Nozizwe holds a Bachelor of Social Science honours degree from the University of Cape Town is a recipient of the Tanenbaum Peacemakers Award, the Lifetime's Remarkable Women campaign award, which honors extraordinary women who inspire and empower others to make a difference in their communities and the world
and an honorary doctorate from Haverford College, Pennsylvania , where she most recently taught a 2020 Spring Semester Course on South Africa’s Peaceful Transition.
She has helped establish the African Women’s Peace Table, a partnership forum for integrating women’s perspectives on issues of peace and security in Africa, and is also the founder and Executive Director of ‘Embrace Dignity’, a non profit women’s human rights organization campaigning for legal reform to abolish the exploitative system of prostitution.
@nozizwem on Twitter
NOZIZWE speaks to Strongest Story on the value of forgiveness and learning to work with those who cause us pain. Her resilient story of overcoming racial & gender discrimination is a fresh take on the defining moments in women's lives and explores the inner spaces they turn to for sustenance.
“I was raised by a very strong woman. My mother. She never accepted defeat. She instilled in me a sense of resilience and persistence. She would send me to places I had never been and trusted me to know what to do. She had a slogan: “Khona Mitta”. I don’t know where she got it from, but it means “Go, Mitta”. Another resilient person in my life was my grandmother who taught me that if something is broken, it can be fixed.
Once there was an argument between these two strong women. I was thirteen and was sent to a boarding school by my mother who wanted me to get a good education. She was a teacher and believed in education as a tool of liberation. I came back having lost a lot of weight. My grandmother looked at me and said “My child is not going back to that school. They are not feeding her.” “She is going right back”, said my mother and that was the end of the story.
I believe there are no intractable problems and that there are always solutions. I believe in silence and reflection. Often, solutions come in the early hours of the night. This resonates with my Quaker practice of waiting in the silence for the Light to speak through me.
I joined the struggle to end apartheid at a time of great fear. Mandela had been thrown into prison for life and the ANC, SACP and PAC had been banned. I survived police harassment and detention under the many draconian laws to suppress resistance to apartheid. I joined the effort to overcome state sponsored “black on black” violence in KwaZulu Natal. When Mandela walked out of prison and asked us to negotiate a peaceful settlement to end apartheid, I was proud to be a delegate at CODESA and even more proud when I, a black woman, voted for the first time in my country and was elected as a Member of Parliament.
My own body has also taught me about resilience. Having been diagnosed with stage 2-3 breast cancer at 43 years of age, I turned to doctors and my close family for support. I knew that, given a chance, bodies can heal themselves. I submitted myself to the amazing doctors in the Cancer Unit at Groote Schuur Hospital where I underwent 6-months of chemotherapy after my surgery. Alongside that, I drew on the support provided by volunteers at ‘Reach for Recovery’ and CANSA. Being breast cancer survivors themselves, these incredible women work together to provide support to breast cancer survivors. This support showed me I was not alone and that I could overcome cancer.
I learned that, with support from others, I could overcome anything.”
A message from Strongest Story:
Two years ago, I rather nervously approached Mrs. Madlala-Routledge to invite her to represent Embrace Dignity’s perspective at an event I was hosting. exposing the exploitation of sex trafficked women in South Africa. I had read all about the phenomenal work she had done shaping our political landscape over decades. If truth be told, I was in awe and a little intimidated. I could not have been more surprised when I received a warm and affirming response in support of our invitation. Our many conversations since then have endeared me more and more to a woman whom I now affectionately refer to as, ‘Mama Nozizwe’. She is indeed a mother to many and a woman of integrity who speaks freely and from the heart - always putting the welfare of others at the forefront of her life’s purpose.
Mama Nozizwe - the depth of your story, and the extent of yourself that you have invested in making our country stronger, is nothing short of remarkable.
On the eve of Women’s Day – it is our honour to hold your story high. Thank you for being a significant role-playing woman in South Africa’s history and just like the original peaceful protest in 1956 - led by Lilian Ngoyi, Helen Joseph, Rahima Moosa and Sophia Williams – you are making a real difference to the issues that African women still face today. Strongest Story applauds you from the bottom of our hearts - you are a true Women’s Day hero!