Sunday Times (Johannesburg) - March 5, 2006
Claire Keeton and with additional reporting by Sapa

On Friday, the Cape High Court instructed Rath and his organisation, the Dr Rath Health Foundation, and the Traditional Healers' Organisation not to publish defamatory accusations that the TAC was acting as a front for drug companies.

The TAC's victory comes a week after Rath withdrew defamation cases against several parties, including Health-e News Service, Dr Eric Goemaere of Medecins Sans Frontieres and HIV specialist Professor Jerry Coovadia.

Rath, Tshabalala-Msimang and other respondents face another legal challenge from the TAC and the South African Medical Association. TAC spokesman Nathan Geffen said the organisation would continue to seek an interdict against the minister and others for failing to stop Rath's illegal experimentation on poor communities and his promotion of unproven treatments for Aids.

Democratic Alliance health spokesman Dianne Kohler-Barnard said she hoped the ruling would convince the health minister of the "grievous error she made in publicly supporting" Rath.

The minister's spokesman Sibani Mngadi said he could not comment since the other court case launched by the TAC was still pending.

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Rath and his organisation the Dr Rath Health Foundation Africa last year alleged that the TAC was funded by pharmaceutical firms to promote antiretrovirals, to the detriment of vitamins and traditional medicines. He also made a presentation to the health minister, and claimed to MPs that he had made a breakthrough in controlling Aids and saving lives.In a written judgment, Judge Siraj Desai said the matter required balancing the freedom of expression with other competing constitutionally-guaranteed interests."The limited restraint on free speech, resulting from the order I make, is not directed to stop the respondents (Rath) from participating in a debate of immense public importance," he wrote."The restraint is directed at the manner in which the respondents have chosen to participate in the debate and the methods they chose to employ."While dubbing TAC's tactics "somewhat boisterous", Sirai added that "the suggestion that the TAC destabilises democracy is incapable of fair-minded support".The order was made pending the TAC's application for a final interdict, an apology and damages.Now, no person including President Thabo Mbeki, would have the "right to say that TAC is a front for the pharmaceutical companies or the pharmaceutical industry or the Trojan horse of that industry or the running dog of that industry," TAC chairman Zackie Achmat declared after the ruling.Neither Rath nor any of the foundation officials were in court for the judgment, and could not be reached for comment at their Cape Town office.Traditional Healer's Organisation national co-ordinator Phephisile Maseko said that TAC should not push western approaches to treating Aids as healing came from both western and traditional medicines.

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