There is no government policy to exclude individuals from the employ of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) merely because they are HIV positive, government spokesperson Joel Netshitenzhe said on Wednesday.
”Each case is treated on its own merits,” he told reporters after a Cabinet meeting in Pretoria.
”On the basis of the overall assessment of the individual, and treating each case on its merits, they would then decide whether a person is fit to join the military section of the SANDF.”
Earlier this month, Minister of Defence Mosiuoa Lekota said the SANDF did not recruit people with what he termed ”the condition”.
Netshitenzhe said Lekota’s words may have been distorted.
”You do not have a principled position of government, a principled policy, that merely because you test HIV-positive you would then not be accepted into the SANDF.”
Reading from a Cabinet statement, Netshitenzhe said the mandate of the SANDF and the rigour of military training would require the assessment of recruits on the basis of various criteria.
These included height, weight, the state of vision and hearing, and whether one has been infected with ailments such as hepatitis and HIV.
He pointed out that the SANDF does not terminate the service of those members who were HIV positive, but rather offers counselling and treatment.
Lekota earlier said there is no point in recruiting HIV-positive individuals, explaining: ”You can’t take ill people into the positions into the army. It’s not useful.”
His statement was widely criticised and some lawyers believed the stance to be unconstitutional.
The Defence Ministry later denied discriminating against HIV-positive people, saying there was no ban on them doing civilian jobs in the military.
”But all recruits for active military duty have to pass a comprehensive health assessment — including an HIV/Aids test — to be accepted,” ministerial spokesperson Sam Mkhwanazi said at the time.
”This is standard practice in the military. Recruits for active duty are also being turned away for things such as poor eyesight, bad hearing, diabetes and even for being overweight.” — Sapa