Differences over HIV/Aids between Deputy President Jacob Zuma and Minister of Health Manto Tshabalala-Msimang have been cited as one of the reasons for the ineffectiveness of the South African National Aids Council (Sanac).
At the HIV/Aids summit in Durban last week, the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the Treatment Action Campaign called for Sanac’s restructuring.
Sanac, which Zuma heads, was formed in February 2000 to combine government and civil society efforts in fighting the Aids epidemic. However, in its two-year existence it has made no visible contribution.
Aids workers and activists say the council has been paralysed by friction between Tshabalala-Msimang, who holds unorthodox views on Aids treatment, and Zuma, who supports the mainstream.
Tshabalala-Msimang is believed to support President Thabo Mbeki’s questioning stance on HIV/Aids and unorthodox views on anti-retrovirals.
Sources said Sanac has been unable to meet regularly because of the divergent views of its members, including Zuma and Tshabalala-Msimang. Sanac’s composition came under fire when it was formed two years ago, with activists objecting to the exclusion of major Aids bodies and the inclusion of a little-known American churchman, Dr Mark Ottenweiler, and the then Eskom deputy chief executive, Bongani Khumalo. Sanac’s composition was based on a list supplied by the Department of Health.
The members, also including the African National Congress’s head of religious affairs, Cedric Mayson, are divided between those who sympathise with Mbeki’s Aids stance and those who do not.
An ANC member close to Sanac said health officials removed a critical reference to Mbeki’s views from a report by a specialist task team set up to advise Sanac on policy. Commissioned by senior health official Nono Simelela and presented to the government early this year, the report was said to be extremely critical of Sanac and to have urged its restructuring.
Those holding orthodox views on HIV/Aids are now concerned that Zuma might be removed from the committee.
Sanac met in February this year to acknowledge its problems and decided to hold a workshop to address them.
Neither Zuma nor Tshabalala- Msimang were available for comment at the time of going to press.