Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2006. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - August 28, 2006
Rapule Tabane
Mbeki has defied critics over the years by showing confidence in her and re-appointing her for a second term even when she had already antagonised stakeholders during her first term.
On Thursday Mbeki's spokesperson Mukoni Ratshitanga told the Mail & Guardian that the president would not fire his health minister, despite calls for him to do so. "There is nothing that has happened so far or has not happened that suggests he should fire her," Ratshitanga said.
The Cabinet also defended her on Thursday, saying that false information about South Africa's treatment programme was being spread around the world.
The African National Congress has dismissed criticism directed towards her, saying no amount of pressure will force the president to review his opinions on his Cabinet.
This week opposition parties, the Independent Democrats and the Democratic Alliance called for her sacking. Lobby group, the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), also embarked on a campaign to push the president to either fire her or to explain to the nation why he was keeping her on.
Various explanations have been proffered in the absence of Mbeki openly explaining why he is keeping her on. A TAC activist said Mbeki might be keeping her to spite his critics on Aids. Mbeki was severely criticised for his comments that he personally does not know anyone who has died of Aids, when about five million South Africa are estimated to be HIV positive.
The comments fit in with his earlier dallying with Aids denialists and his questioning whether HIV causes Aids. The president has since been quiet on the subject and prefers to say South Africa has the most comprehensive prevention and treatment programme in the world.
UN Special Envoy on Aids in Africa, Stephen Lewis, told the recent international Aids conference in Toronto, Canada, that South Africa was the only country in Africa whose government is still obtuse, dilatory and negligent in rolling out treatment.
Speculation about why Tshabalala-Msimang has kept her position include that she is articulating the president's views.
Another view is that, except in the instance of former deputy president Jacob Zuma, who was "released" from his responsibilities, Mbeki is generally protective of ministers who face public pressure. Some believe that Mbeki's closeness to Tshabalala-¡Msimang's husband Mendi while they were in exile in London could be the explanation. Mendi Msimang is ANC treasurer.
Sipho Mthati of the TAC said: "If the president does not fire her, he must explain why, despite demonstrable failure, he keeps her in Cabinet. Other¡wise we can only believe that her actions are his actions and her inactions are his inactions."
The South African Communist Party said the health crisis should not be individualised.
"We must ask if the problem is broader than Tshabalala-Msimang? What is the whole Cabinet's attitude towards Aids and the crisis we are facing?" asked South African Communist Party spokesperson Malesela Maleka.
A provincial health official and ANC activist said Mbeki showed reverence to senior ANC women, who dominated his Cabinet.
"Manto will never be fired. If you look at Justice Minister Brigitte Mabandla, Communications Minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri and Tshabalala-Msimang you will see the pattern. Matsepe-Casaburri failed at the SABC and in the Free State where she was premier but was still given new responsibilities. Unless she retires, she could be moved to another portfolio.
"Right now Tshabalala-Msimang is in a hurry to enact the Traditional Medicines Act when she is yet to demonstrate which traditional medicine could cure what disease. In the absence of that, she should not make traditional medicine an alternative. The problem with promoting it is that many people waste time at sangomas and come to hospitals when they are too ill to be assisted.
"She has not achieved anything. She is credited with fighting pharmaceutical companies when in fact it was previous health minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma who spearheaded that fight."
Tshabalala-Msimang's spokesperson Sibani Mngadi said that in emphasising nutrition the minister was only articulating government policy.
"The government's message says prevent in the first place. If you are infected, live a healthy lifestyle, which is where nutrition comes in. It then says treat opportunistic diseases and lastly get anti-retroviral treatment if you have acquired full-blown Aids.
"She is implementing policies of this government and if some people disagree with government policies, why must she leave?"
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