IT is with foreboding that we watch the=20 unfolding of the latest Aids saga – the=20 excited discovery by the Cabinet of a cure=20 for the disease which ranks, at least in=20 the popular imagination, as the world’s=20 public enemy number one. The sense of d=E9j=E0=20 vu – Sarafina II and all that – is=20 overwhelming.
It would perhaps be foolish, bearing in=20 mind the circumstances in which Alexander=20 Fleming discovered penicillin, to dismiss=20 the possibility that Virodene is a miracle=20 drug. But that is not the point. Even if it=20 does have the extraordinary powers that are=20 claimed for it, the Cabinet’s apparent=20 collaboration in the development of the=20 drug – and, more specifically, the=20 circumvention of the drug control system -=20 smacks of foolishness.=20
The Minister of Health, Dr Nkosazana Zuma,=20 was abroad this week – pursuing her ongoing=20 love affair with Cuba. So we have not had=20 the benefit of her input about the events=20 which led to the Cabinet giving a standing=20 ovation to the three Pretoria University=20 researchers who “invented” Virodene.=20
In the absence of such explanation, we are=20 left to speculate, with the help of the few=20 titbits of information which have been=20 released or leaked by the government. The=20 impression given by this sketchy evidence=20 is that the minister, smarting from the=20 pasting she took over Sarafina II, stumbled=20 across the Virodene “cure” and – determined=20 to confound her critics and “show the=20 world” – fast-tracked its development.=20
If this speculation is borne out, it raises=20 a number of questions, notably whether the=20 minister consulted her many competent civil=20 servants who could have been expected to=20 advise her on the impropriety of such a=20 course of action. Questions also need to be=20 answered as to the relationship between the=20 three researchers and the government.=20
Recently reviewing his first years in=20 office, President Nelson Mandela identified=20 the Sarafina II scandal as one of the worst=20 blunders of his administration. We assume=20 therefore that he will deal toughly with=20 any repeat. In the meantime, we would=20 plead: let’s have transparency this time=20 around, Mr President.=20