Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2008. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Sunday Times (Johannesburg) - March 9, 2008
Buddy Naidu
But authorities at Wits University refused to pay her a cent, saying Aids awareness campaigns should not be used for commercial gain.
Kananda was scheduled to speak as part of the university's annual Aids awareness and testing campaign which ran in mid-February.
The campaign is organised by the Wits Counselling and Careers Development Unit, the Students' Representative Council and clothing company Levi's.
Following negotiations with the SRC the fee was lowered to R8000, but the university still refused to budge.
This week Kananda blasted the university, saying it had acted unprofessionally, adding that students would have benefited from her lecture. "I am a businesswoman. I regard myself as a professional and studied for what I do."
She said when her company, Public Talk Services, was initially approached by the SRC they were asked for a quotation.
"Everything was fine until a day before the function, when they came back saying they did not have a budget."
She said if she had known earlier that the university did not have the budget she would have considered doing it for free.
"We cater for academic institutions who don't have a budget. But in this instance no one spoke to me personally ... and all the time they liaised with my personal assistant they did not say this is the challenge that they have."
Kananda is a former nurse and medical underwriter who regularly works with various government departments and big businesses, advising on wellness programmes. Diagnosed with Aids in 1997, seven months into her pregnancy, she presents the Positive Talk Show on Metro every Wednesday and Thursday evening.
The show focuses on HIV/Aids issues and promotes a positive lifestyle and attitude for those living with the disease.
She vehemently denied that she was making money out of her illness, saying she was no different to any other motivational speakers on the lecture circuit.
She said, for example, that on Friday and Saturday she gave free motivational lectures at Maponya Mall in Soweto.
"It's about spreading the word and ploughing back into the community and should not just be portrayed as a money-making thing.
"And it's not for them (the university) to say when you should be ploughing back and when you shouldn't."
Prem Coopoo, Dean of Students, said the university should not be paying an activist to talk on HIV/Aids awareness as HIV/Aids education should not become a commercial enterprise.
She also felt it would not be cost-effective to engage the services of Kananda as the students had a limited budget. Kwaito group Skwatta Camp performed at the event and the university paid to transport their equipment.
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