Home Affairs Minister Mangosuthu Buthelezi gave his support on Friday to a campaign promoting abstinence from sex, presiding over a ceremony where abstaining youngsters were rewarded for their self-discipline.
Buthelezi was the main speaker at the 2002 Abstinence Awards Dinner in Durban, organised by the Durban Christian Centre which has promoted abstinence among the youth as a method of curbing the spread of HIV/Aids.
Buthelezi said in his speech that government was engaged in campaigns aimed at educating the youth about the pandemic but most campaigns focused on protected sex.
”The message being sent out is that of condomising for safe sex. People are being urged to speak openly to our children about Aids, sex and homosexuality, and this is done from the print media, to television, in our schools, on campuses and in communities,” he said.
”In all this, the church has often been ridiculed for advocating the biblical message of abstinence, on the basis that it is supposedly an unworkable message for a modern generation.”
Abstinence was a small price to pay to save one’s life, he said. Buthelezi warned that government information campaigns alone would not change sexual behaviour.
”There is a great deal the government cannot do. Government cannot take personal decisions for individual people. Government cannot change the choices individuals make.
”Civil society and government are going to have to come to agreement on how we can fight HIV/Aids, and share the commitment of doing so.
”Moreover, the message sent out to our people cannot just be politically correct. It must be a message of truth that can save lives.”
Awareness has hit home at every level of South Africa’s society that the country needed to do something to stop HIV/Aids, he said.
”We must inculcate respect for women and children within our society, and respect for human life. We must return to the notion that one person’s actions affect all of us.”
KwaZulu-Natal, the province with the highest HIV/Aids infections, has led the battle to limit the damage of the scourge, he said.
”In KwaZulu-Natal, we chose to stop the onslaught of this disease through any means which is within the control of government. ? Sapa