Veteran African National Congress (ANC) MP Ben Turok cut a lonely figure outside Parliament on Tuesday as opposition MPs seized on an invitation by HIV/Aids activists to participate in a ”people’s parliament” convened by the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC).
”I am here because I want to listen to the TAC. They are an international, well-known organisation. They have campaigned long and hard and we need to listen to them,” said Turok, seated on one of 400 chairs set up by the Aids lobbyists.
Hundreds of activists, many bearing cardboard crosses, marched to Parliament to hand over a memorandum addressed to the Speaker, Baleka Mbete, and to MPs Dennis Bloem and James Ngculu — chairpersons of the portfolio committees on correctional services and health respectively.
Turok, surrounded by a platoon of empty chairs for his caucus colleagues and a smattering of MPs from the Democratic Alliance, Independent Democrats and African Christian Democratic Party, said he supported Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka’s attempted rapprochement with the TAC. He was referring to an inter-ministerial committee on HIV and Aids deciding last Thursday to mend relations with bodies critical of government’s anti-Aids measures.
As far as he was concerned, the ANC did not take a position on whether or not to accept the invitation to attend Tuesday’s impromptu assembly.
Asked about the TAC’s call for Minister of Health Manto Tshabalala-Msimang to step down — one of five demands — Turok said this was in the hands of President Thabo Mbeki.
”He is very well informed about how his ministers are performing. It’s in his hands … [but] no one can dispute the proposition that people not performing should step down,” said Turok told the South African Press Association.
University of Cape Town economics professor Nicoli Nattrass was more forthright, adding her voice to those calling for the minister to step down.
Nattrass said government could afford expanded antiretroviral treatment and blamed underspending by the Department of Health for targets not being met.
According to the TAC memorandum presented on Tuesday, over 500 000 people in need of treatment remained without it.
”The government committed to treating 380 000 people by March 2006. Yet by the Department of Health’s own estimate we have only achieved 40% of this target.”
Activists said poor political leadership, embodied by a health minister promoting pseudo-science, was behind the crisis in South Africa’s public health system.
The lobbyists said the consequences of Tshabalala-Msimang’s failure at her job was a massive drop in life expectancy and a poorly implemented HIV/Aids treatment programme.
”There are several key problems hampering the roll-out of antiretroviral [ARV] treatment. Key among these is an irrational accreditation process,” the TAC claimed.
It said mortality rates in prisons had risen almost five-fold in the past decade.
”Thousands of prisoners across the country are at risk of dying of Aids because of the failure of government to provide ARV treatment,” the memorandum read.
The Anglican dean of Cape Town, the openly gay Rowan Smith, said the mixed messages sent from President Mbeki down were exacerbating the fight against the pandemic.
Drawing on scriptures, Smith said: ”If the bugle does not give a clear sound, how can the people go into battle?”
Asked about the politicising of the Aids pandemic and the impression that the TAC was relenting on its principled stance of not associating with any political party, TAC treasurer Mark Heywood said government was the one who had politicised HIV/Aids.
”The official opposition [Democratic Alliance] is only able to ride on our backs to the extent that the party in government fails in its attempts to provide leadership.”
Heywood said they welcomed support, but what made them ”sad” was the fact that the majority of MPs chose not to attend to the people’s parliament.
”Parliament should be at the centre of the national response to HIV. MPs come from constituencies, where they could provide information and leadership,” he said. — Sapa