Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2002. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Sunday Times (Johannesburg) - Sunday 21 July, 2002
Mawande Jubasi
Speaking at a three-day SA National Aids Council youth summit in Benoni on the East Rand, she said the process of allocating the money was not in line with the fund's original agreement with the government.
"The Global Fund was trying to bypass the democratically elected government and put it [the money] in the hands of civil authorities.
"Perhaps this is because the fund does not trust governments elected by the people."
She said that when the Global Fund was formed, the developed countries that were providing most of the money wanted to control where it went. She said South Africa and other developing countries fought hard to make control of the funds 50-50.
Her public criticism of the donation follows a United Nations threat that the money either goes to the KwaZulu-Natal-based project to which it was awarded, the Enhancing Care Initiative, or it will be withdrawn.
The ultimatum follows a battle that began when Tshabalala-Msimang insisted that the money, part of a R1.8-billion package that the UN had earmarked for South Africa, be donated to the SA National Aids Advisory Council and distributed "equitably" among all nine provinces.
A spokesman for the UN Global Fund to Fight Aids, TB and Malaria, Melanie Zipperer, said: "The money was specifically granted by the board of the fund to the project in KwaZulu-Natal. If there are amendments, they will have to be resubmitted and considered afresh. That does not guarantee the provision of the funds."
The head of the Enhancing Care Initiative, Professor Umesh Lalloo, said that from its inception the project had had the support and assistance of provincial Health MEC Zweli Mkhize.
The minister intervened in March, seeking to withdraw the application for funds, but it had already been processed for approval.
"She was dead against the funds being given to KwaZulu-Natal - but we didn't want to lose the opportunity," said Lalloo.
Mkhize said he was optimistic that the province would still benefit from the funds allocated.
He suggested that the KwaZulu- Natal project could be linked with projects in other provinces.
Zipperer said the Enhancing Care Initiative's proposal was the only one of four from South Africa that had met all of the UN fund's requirements.
The project's proposals include:
* Comprehensive care for Aids patients, including antiretroviral drugs;
* Expansion of the Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission Programme to all healthcare institutions in KwaZulu-Natal;
* Care for people suffering from opportunistic infections like TB;
* A comprehensive package of HIV/Aids care, including antiretrovirals, for infected health workers;
* The expansion of hospice-supported, homecare-based programmes at 15 sites in KwaZulu-Natal; and
* The provision of places of safety for Aids orphans.
The director of the Aids Law Project, Mark Heywood, said it was considering bringing an urgent court application to stop the government from interfering with the fund.
A spokesman for Tshabalala-Msimang, Sibane Mngadi, denied that the minister was amending the approved proposals from the project: "The Global Fund has itself called for a country coordinating mechanism and all we have done is call for the establishment of a technical task team to liaise with all stakeholders, including the funders and the KwaZulu-Natal initiative, to work out administrative processes."
Meanwhile, Ranjeni Munusamy reports that the government has continued to defend Tshabalala-Msimang, saying calls for her resignation over the Aids money were "manufactured hype".
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