Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2007. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
South African Press Association - January 30, 2007
Ben Maclennan
There is "a role" for the force in helping roll out treatment because it is such a labour-intensive activity, she told a defence force-organised moral-regeneration conference in Cape Town.
At the end of last year, the Health Ministry announced that more than 235 000 people were receiving free ARVs, up by about 60 000 from mid-year.
The Treatment Action Campaign estimates that another half a million people still need to go on to treatment.
Mlambo-Ngcuka heads a ministerial task team on HIV/Aids, and chairs the South African National Aids Council.
She told the conference that unacceptable numbers of South Africans still live in poverty and deprivation and the rest of the country has to fight this inequality.
Sharing the wealth of the nation is a moral responsibility.
"The will to share is what is at stake here," she said.
The work that South Africa is already doing in poverty alleviation shows that it is and can be a moral and caring nation, yet more can be done.
The country's forces in uniform, the defence force and police, represent "refuge and trust".
That uniform is an identity that says its wearer can be relied on, "so we cannot allow a few bad potatoes to change that".
"They have to be exemplary, helpful and must be seen to be going he extra mile in whatever they do without seeking to enrich themselves unjustly."
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