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Nozizwe: Mbeki breaks silence
11/08/2007 15:29 - (SA)
Johannesburg - Former deputy health minister Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge was fired for her inability to work as part of the "collective" and for undertaking a trip to Madrid against President Thabo Mbeki's orders.
This is according to the letter Mbeki sent to Madlala-Routledge on Wednesday firing her.
The Presidency released the letter on Saturday to "prevent further speculation and misrepresentations of facts".
In a briefing in Cape Town on Friday, Madlala-Routledge said she was axed for an unannounced hospital visit and an unauthorised trip abroad.
"I've been fired for paying an unannounced visit to Frere Hospital on the 13th of July 2007 and for my response to the shocking situation I found in the maternity ward," the former deputy said.
'Much publicised trip'
This visit to Frere Hospital was prompted by the much publicised story broken by the Daily Dispatch newspaper after a two-month undercover investigation into why babies died at Frere Hospital, she said.
"The other reason for my dismissal is the much publicised trip I undertook to Madrid to address a conference hosted by the International Aids Vaccine Initiative.
"What is at issue here is that I went to Madrid without permission from the president."
In his letter to his former deputy health minister, Mbeki wrote the Constitution called on government officials to work collectively to develop and implement national policies.
"I have, during the period you served as Deputy Minister of Defence, consistently drawn your attention to the concerns raised by your colleagues about your inability to work as part of a collective, as the Constitution enjoins us to," the President wrote.
He said he had discussed these issues with her even during her tenure as deputy Minister of Health.
'You do not accept my advice'
"You travelled to Madrid despite the fact that I had declined your request to undertake this trip. It is clear to me that you have no intention to abide by the constitutional prescriptions that bind all of us. For this reason I suggested to you that you should resign."
"It is clear that you do not accept my advice. This leaves me no choice but to relieve you of your duties."
Madlala-Routledge said during her press briefing that she did not resign because she wanted to know what processes were followed to establish that "I had broken rules in how I organised my trip to Madrid".
"But at that stage already, I did not think that doing what I was paid to do was wrong."
- SAPA
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