THE extraordinary Cabinet meeting this week in which ministers stood up and applauded a “breakthrough” in Aids research raises intriguing questions about Health Minister Nkosazana Zuma’s approach to the crisis.
Still smarting from the R14,2-million Sarafina II debacle, Zuma turned down the scientists’ request for funding from her department late last year, claiming she could not authorise the R3,7-million they wanted. Instead Zuma directed them to the Cabinet, personally arranging Wednesday’s audience.
Her spokesman, Vincent Hlongwane, said on Thursday that decision was because the Aids crisis “is not the preserve of the Department of Health”.
Zuma’s funding stance does, however, seem strange, given the R40-million assigned this year to her department’s HIV/Sexually Transmitted Diseases Directorate, which counts research among its various operations. The directive – the government’s main Aids initiative – also has European Union money and a hefty budget from the RDP at its disposal.
It is not clear what role the directive played in bringing the Pretoria treatment to the fore. New head Rose Smart was out of the country this week, and health department director general Olive Shisana was not taking calls.
The Cabinet meeting is a slap in the face for funding agencies like the Medical Research Council and the Foundation for Research Development, which apply strict criteria when funding scientists.
It also comes at a time when subsidies to universities (and, consequently, university research) have been slashed, leaving many scientists scrabbling for funds. They feel the rules of fairness have been breached, as they have to go through a set of processes to earn the right to funding.
Zigi Visser, husband of researcher Olga Visser, said Zuma had “supported them” when they were being “blocked” in their research. It was Zuma who set up the Cabinet meeting, he said.
Professor Peter Owen, a medical professional at the University of Western Cape, who helped develop the African National Congress’s health policy before 1994, said: “The minister herself used to work in the Medical Research Council – how could she allow something like this to get to the Cabinet? Any Tom, Dick or Harry can now come forward to the Cabinet with the flimsiest evidence.”