In keeping with the trend of year-end report cards, JournAIDS has assessed prominent people and organisations we feel played key roles – good and bad – in the fight against HIV and AIDS in South Africa in 2006.

KEY:
A – Excellent, the fight against HIV and AIDS is lucky to have you.
B ­– Good, but still a bit of room for improvement.
C – Average, nothing special.
D – Poor, flirting with denialism.
E – Useless, a terminal denialist

 

Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge: The deputy minister of health was the flavour of the festive season as she suddenly leapt out from under Dr Beetroot’s shadow and stood up for people with HIV and AIDS. Being the first Cabinet minister to take a public HIV test, Madlala-Routledge has been hailed as a ray of hope for the health ministry.
Score: A

Zackie Achmat: As chairperson of the Treatment Action Campaign, Achmat has fought so many battles for people affected with HIV. So selfless a person deserves the country’s highest decorations, rather than being constantly criticised by the likes of Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang. For his sterling courage and never ceasing hope for a better life for those with HIV and AIDS, South Africa is grateful.
Score: A

The Nelson Mandela Foundation (NMF) and Medicins Sans Frontiers (MSF): These two organis ations joined forces to established South Africa’s most successful antiretroviral treatment (ART) programme in Lusikisiki that was handed over to the Eastern Cape Department of Health last year. MSF had already successfully implemented an ART programme in one of the country’s poorest urban areas, Khayelitsha, Cape Town.
Score: B

Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka: Mlambo-Ngcuka came in right after the debacle with the vegetable stall at the International AIDS Conference  in Toronto in August last year. In her first speech, she said the government had set up a plan to combat HIV and AIDS , would beef up the South African AIDS Council, which she chairs, and aimed to fix the government’s relationship with non-governmental organisations working against HIV and AIDS. Her World AIDS Day speech titled “Stop HIV and AIDS – Keep the Promise” was in stark contrast to Mbeki’s, which skirted the topic the day was about.
Score: B-

loveLife: This non-governmental organisation has been at the forefront of educating youngsters about HIV and AIDS since 1999. Hoping to reduce the HIV infection of South Africa’s youth, loveLife has launched several projects using mainly the media as its vehicle. Whether or not the ads actually work or not remains open to speculation.
Score C-

Siyanqoba Beat It! This is a television magazine programme aimed at everyone living with HIV and AIDS and all those close to them. It began in 1999 and has been a voice for those who wished to share their stories about living with the disease. It is an initiative of the South African Broadcasting Corporation Education, the MTN Foundation as well as the Open Society Foundation. This involvement of big business in the fight against HIV and AIDS is inspiring.
Score: B

Judge Edwin Cameron: Cameron was the first senior public servant to publicly disclose his HIV-positive status. He was inspired to this action by the stoning to death of Gugu Dlamini in 1998, an HIV-positive woman who had also disclosed her status. Cameron published his autobiography, Witness to AIDS, last year, and went on to win The Sunday Times/Alan Paton Prize. Two chapters of the book were co-written with Nathan Geffen of the TAC.
Score: A

Thabo Mbeki: The statement by Mbeki that we should question whether there was a link between HIV and AIDS would be a strong contender in “The World’s Most Ridiculous Statements Competition”. Disappointingly, he has done very little to redeem himself, choosing instead to remain arrogantly silent on an issue so devastating to his voters.
Score: D-

Jacob Zuma:  When Zuma said he showered after sleeping with an HIV-positive woman to minimise the risk of infection during his rape trial, a little something of the faith people had that salvation from HIV and AIDS would come from our leaders went down the plug. He also displayed his enormous ignorance, arrogance and a lack of respect for the work of people working to educate people about HIV and AIDS. And this from someone who used to be chair of the South African National AIDS Council and chair of the Moral Regeneration Movement. Puh-leeeze.
Score: E

Manto Tshabalala-Msimang: Where should one begin when listing the minister’s many transgressions? As the TAC once said, she is a mass murderer and should be charged with genocide. Millions of people who have followed Tshabalala-Msimang’s garlic diet as treatment for HIV and AIDS will never testify to its success.
Score: E

The Department of Correctional Services (DCS) : One of the “Westville 13” died because the DCS procrastinated about implementing a High Court judge’s ruling that it provide ART to HIV-positive inmates. Many will continue to die of AIDS-related illnesses in prison because the DCS doesn’t believe they deserve a living chance.
Score: D

Thami Mseleku:  An old supporter of the Rath Foundation and the suspicious vitamins it peddles, Mseleku seemed to step up his denialist attitude last year. According to Health24, the TAC called for his suspension in July 2006 after he allegedly allowed the release of an imported consignment of unregistered food supplements belonging to the Rath Foundation.
Score: E –Akhona Cira

Image Sources
Nozizwe Madala-Routledge: Flow Communications
Zackie Achmat
Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka: Flow Communications
Siyanqoba, Beat It!
Edwin Cameron
Jacob Zuma: Flow Communications
Manto Tshabala-Msimang: Flow Communications

This entry was posted on Friday, January 12th, 2007 at 2:31 pm and is filed under Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.