Sunday Times, South Africa - February 28, 2000
Laurice Taitz

This comes 14 years after Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni acknowledged the gravity of AIDS in that country and, with a pioneering show of commitment, set about inspiring a united political will to curb the pandemic. Within 10 years, Uganda could claim a decline in HIV infection rates countrywide, in some areas by as much as 10%.

Further north, Nigeria's former military dictator and now democratically elected President Olusegun Obasanjo has spent his first eight months in office acknowledging the exploding AIDS crisis in that country. On World AIDS Day, he convened a Cabinet meeting at which he lectured ministers on the threat of HIV/AIDS, humorously warning that they should not count themselves immune "on account of old age".

By now it should be clear that South Africa is not going to invent "the" African solution to this problem. What it can do is invent a South African solution. But instead of taking note of lessons already learned in Africa and elsewhere or being humbled by past experience, the government seems intent on muddling through this crisis alone. The launch of the National AIDS Council is a case in point - a much-heralded event that forms part of a long line of annual debacles that strain credibility.

Instead of an eminent panel of representatives and advisers, the council's 31 members are a motley mix of Cabinet ministers and assorted individuals. Journalist Lucky Mazibuko, for instance, is a good choice in a sense because he himself is HIV-positive and writes about his experiences in his column for the Sowetan newspaper. Yet he has no ties to any national networks.

Still more bewildering is the inclusion of Dr Mark Ottenweller, who heads up a small local branch of an international AIDS non-governmental organisation which has no affiliation to any South African umbrella body. Most startling of all is the inclusion of Nomonde Gonxeka, an SABC-TV and radio presenter, who, according to the council's "fact sheet", is charged with representing "celebrities". Council members who make more sense, including trade union leader Zwelinzima Vavi and traditional healers, are in the minority.

The council is a toothless bureaucratic body lacking legal authority, scientific expertise or the power to make policy. The launch itself was a dismal affair. It got off to a late start after delegates from the Department of Health got stuck in a lift. The public-address system failed, and council members could not all squeeze into the venue.

Three years ago, then Deputy President Thabo Mbeki launched the Partnership Against AIDS to 800 people at the presidential guesthouse. At the time, there was a sense of urgency - 1 500 South Africans were being infected a day. Last year, Zuma replaced Mbeki as the face of the campaign and the partnership's first anniversary was held at the SABC, in a cramped studio filled with TV extras who were cued to ask the Minister of Health, Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, questions.

This year's event was even less auspicious. It was held in the underbelly of the Union Buildings and was attended by a smattering of government officials, only a few council appointees and the media.

In the time it took for the government to shed support for the council from AIDS activists, scientists and researchers the number of people infected daily had risen to 1 700. The number of people living with HIV/AIDS now stands at around four million.

In all this time, the Department of Health has yet to release its guidelines on how to medically treat people with HIV/AIDS. Despite this, out of the five technical task teams that will advise the council not one will focus on treatment.

By launch day the teams had not been formed and the council had not yet set a date to meet, leaving one to wonder what, exactly, was being "launched". Tshabalala-Msimang giggled at the media's questions, responding to most with: "How would we know this? The council has never met." The National AIDS Strategic Plan, the crucial document that will underpin the council's work, has yet to go before Cabinet. A plan drawn up in 1994 was never implemented. Six years later, it's been redrawn. In comparison, the four years it took to establish the council seem to have just flown by.

Asked why the council was not instead a commission with legal standing, Tshabalala-Msimang said the process would have taken too long. Asked why it had taken so long to get the council off the ground - even a few millimetres - Zuma said it reflected "the sufficient consultation and participation needed by different stakeholders".

It should be noted that the AIDS Consortium - a network of 220 NGOs - was not invited to the launch, nor was it made aware of the appointed members. Not only is there a glaring absence of scientific and academic knowledge on the panel, but there are also no AIDS activists who have ever challenged the government on its AIDS policies. The Medical Research Council, the Medicines Control Council, pharmaceutical companies, doctors and specialists working with HIV/AIDS and leaders of community projects are also nowhere to be seen.

At the launch, Zuma said: "Individuals, communities, national government and international organisations each have a key role to play . . . The challenge is how each fits into the puzzle." For many individuals, communities and organisations countrywide it's not such a mystery. In the time taken to establish the council, they have already completed scientific research and set up support networks, advocacy groups, home care programmes and treatment discussion forums.

The government's latest move is the only piece that doesn't fit into the puzzle.

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