Career
She served in the National Party government of F. West. de Klerk, and was the first woman in South African history to hold a cabinet post. During her time in office, Doctor Venter introduced stronger regulations on tobacco, ordered the desegregation of South African hospitals (albeit with less-than-optimal implementation), and formulated a detailed plan for responding to the then-nascent Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome pandemic. Venter retired from politics in 1994, and has criticized her successors for abandoning the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome response plan.