AEGiS-SAPA: Manto not snubbed, insists conference organiser

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2007. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

Manto not snubbed, insists conference organiser

South African Press Association - June 7, 2007

Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang was not snubbed by the Aids conference in Durban, the conference organisers insisted on Wednesday. Dira Sengwe, the official organisers of the third South African Aids Conference, said it "strongly refutes" allegations that Tshabalala-Msimang was slighted because she was on the programme in a panel discussion rather than as an individual speaker. Tshabalala-Msimang did not turn up for her scheduled participation in Wednesday morning's plenary session. She was one of six speakers for the session. "The committee confirmed that Dr Tshabalala-Msimang had been invited repeatedly to take part officially at the opening of the conference on Tuesday evening," said Dira Sengwe. "The committee was particularly pleased that the Deputy President Ms Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka formally opened the conference at the plenary."

Professor Jerry Coovadia, chairperson of Dira Sengwe, said Tshabalala-Msimang was given a "prominent speaker slot" in a plenary session on Wednesday. "Plenaries are designed to feature the most important and most distinguished speakers of the conference -- a fact attested to by the list of such plenary speakers in the official conference programme distributed to all delegates," said Coovadia.

On Tuesday, Mlambo-Ngcuka told the conference that Tshabalala-Msimang had pulled out of the conference because Deputy Health Minister Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge had been given a more prominent position in the proceedings. "The minister has withdrawn because of the place you have allocated to her," said Mlambo-Ngcuka. Coovadia said Mlambo-Ngcuka's comments were the only notification the conference organisers received that the minister would not appear, as she did not formally tell them. He said Tshabalala-Msimang appeared to have misunderstood her position on the programme and described it as "exactly parallel" to the deputy president's participation in the plenary session on Tuesday. He hoped the misunderstanding would not disrupt the conference.

"The next crucial milestone is not to be deflected by this unfortunate episode but to continue to reach consensus at this conference in order for us to move forward and save thousands, if not millions, of lives," said Coovadia. "The fact that the National Aids Plan has resulted from cooperation and participation between civil society, scientists and government, is proof that we are now ready to tackle the HIV and Aids pandemic together in ways in which we failed to do so in the past."

Coovadia said it was distressing that the momentum of agreements between the government and civil society was being affected. "This is a discordant note in that momentum and it's worrying." He said such a gulf "doesn't help the national strategic plan and doesn't help the patients". Coovadia described the conference as "very successful" and said that about a quarter of the 4 000 participants were from other countries.

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