During Thabo Mbeki's presidency, South Africa held a very disturbing and/or dubious stance on her approach to HIV/AIDS. It would appear that the leadership at the time was unwilling to accept the challenges posed by the pandemic and take appropriate steps to deal with them. The leadership's attitude bordered on irritating denialism. However, the new leadership seems to have changed this approach and big strides are being made in the field of HIV/AIDS and its treatment. Credit for this is due to Presdient Zuma and Minister Aaron Motsoaledi. This praise for the two politicians is nonetheless a bit tainted by the fact that they were part of government during this unfortunate era of denialism and, to my knowledge, went with the flow.
President Mbeki and the late Minister Shabalala-Msimang undermined efforts to fight HIV/AIDS
When Thabo Mbeki was the president of South Africa, Manto Shabalala-Msimang was the Minister of Health. During this period the two leaders raised questions that challenged conventional thinking when dealing with HIV/AIDS. Mbeki accused activists of racism for, among other things, implying that HIV/AIDS was most likely to infect black South Africans because of their immorality or loose moral values. He even, at one stage, ridiculed HIV/AIDS infection statistics by infamously stating that he did not know of anyone who died of AIDS. For her part, Shabalala-Msimang, encouraged people to use beetroot and garlic only to earn herself the nick-name "Dr. Beetroot". There is no denying that vegetables, including beetroot and garlic, are useful for everyone, especially those infected with HIV. What irked activists and amused the public was the extent to which the minster held them as a solution to the crisis brought about by HIV/AIDS. It did not help that government did not develop concrete policies that practically and effectively dealt with the pandemic. Many could not believe when, in 2002, the government had to be forced by a court of law to provide antiretroviral treatment to South Africans. It was in the midst of this general frustration with the leadership that some voices were heard calling for Thabo Mbeki to be charged with genocide .
Enter Zuma and the picture looks promising
Right from the beginning of his presidency, Jacob Zuma showed that the period of denialism, evasiveness and/or general lack of determination when dealing with HIV/AIDS was over. He appointed Aaron Motsoaledi, a politician who is famous for hard-work and has earned accolades in every portfolio he held since 1994, his minister of health. No sooner had Motsoaledi assumed office did we hear a clear message of government's commitment to dealing with HIV/AIDS. Even activists in HIV/AIDS field acknowledged the improvement in the government stance. Examples of the change in government approach abound.
- Zuma announced his government's decision to provide antiretroviral treatment to pregnant women with a CD4 count of 350 or less on World AIDS Day in 2009. Motsoaledi concretised this announcement in his budget speech of 2010 in which, refreshingly, he devoted a respectable amount of space to HIV/AIDS.
- In October 2009 Zuma made the stance of his government clear in the National Council of Provinces when he admitted the challenges posed by HIV/AIDS to the country.
- To crown it all, with his industrious Minister of Health, Zuma announced the new national strategic plan to fight HIV/AIDS in 2011.
It is clear that Zuma and Motsoaledi have distanced themselves from Mbeki's stance, albeit in few or no words. Their actions speak volumes and South Africa is all the better for their efforts. Even those who were suspicious of Zuma because of the unbelievable amount of ignorance he entertained the country with during his rape trial when he said he had showered after having sex with an HIV positive person, are pleasantly surprised by the efforts and determination of this president.
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