Politics and Activists

A lot of crazy things have been happening in the political realm in South Africa since I arrived here in February. There have been various scandals and there was the big strike that I mentioned previously, but perhaps the most controversial and well-known (and incredibly frustrating!!) political craziness that has been going on surrounds Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manto_Tshabalala-Msimang). I first heard about Manto at the International AIDS Conference in Toronto last August. Many other Torontonians would have heard of her too, since she was ridiculed in local papers during the conference. Manto was under heavy fire at the conference for her very public views on HIV/AIDS treatment in South Africa. She publicly did (and does) not support the use of antiretroviral therapy (the only scientifically proven form of AIDS treatment) by South Africans and instead has promoted concoctions of African potatoes, garlic, etc. to treat AIDS. Not only is this absolute nonsense, but it also creates great confusion among South Africans when their own Health Minister is telling them not to use the one thing that actually will give them a chance at living longer and healthier with AIDS. Needless to say, many people have petitioned to get the lady sacked. Many books by top people in the field have been written naming her as an AIDS denialist and discrediting her stance. At the conference in Toronto, Stephen Lewis himself stood up and called her out on her ridiculous AIDS opinions and blamed her for countless avoidable deaths in South Africa. A petition was also written to President Thabo Mbeki by numerous top scientists, researchers, doctors, experts, etc. from around the world, asking him to remove Manto from her position.

Not long after I arrived here, Manto took ill (at the time many people felt perhaps through some twist of irony that she herself had AIDS) and was forced to hand over her duties to her Deputy Health Minister, Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nozizwe_Madlala-Routledge), while she was getting treated and recovering. Nozizwe proved to be a breath of fresh air for frustrated South Africans, speaking openly and honestly about what is happening in this country in regards to the AIDS crisis and drafting plans to get the government to start acting.

In a shocking and angering news broadcast last week, the nation learned that the Deputy Health Minister had been fired from her position by President Mbeki. Mbeki had proclaimed that Nozizwe had used taxpayers' funds to pay for an unauthorized trip to an AIDS conference in Spain (note: she was not told that she was not allowed until she was already in Spain, at which point she returned to South Africa on the first available flight back). At the same time more and more stories have been, and are still being, published in local newspapers and international media, such as The Economist, speaking out about Health Minister Manto's shady past. For example, Manto was granted a liver transplant even though her liver condition is reported by the Sunday Times (and not denied by her doctors) as being caused by alcohol use/abuse. As well, this past weekend's Sunday Times newspaper ran with a story about how Manto was a convicted criminal after being charged for stealing from patients at a hospital in Botswana. The scandal really comes down to the fact that former Deputy Health Minister Nozizwe has had a history of defying the denialist attitudes of the government, completely counter to her boss, the Health Minister, and President Mbeki. She has gotten into hot water in the past and this current reason for her dismissal is seen as Mbeki siding once again with Manto, who was being made to look bad by her Deputy, who the public was incredibly excited about and who they hoped would help turn South Africa's AIDS crisis around. The irony is that Manto doesn't need any help looking bad...she is one of the most ridiculed democratic government officials around the world and Mbeki also loses international credibilty for keeping her around for God only knows what reasons. Apparently general public scorn and public ridicule is not enough to have a person be removed from a leadership position in a democratic system these days.

In other, but related news, I have recently taken an internship at TAC (Treatment Action Campaign, http://www.tac.org.za/). It's a huge national AIDS organization in South Africa and one of the most well-known AIDS organizations internationally. Zackie Achmat (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zackie_Achmat) started the organization in December of 1998 and since then it has become well known as the champion of AIDS in South Africa, fighting numerous lawsuits against the South African government, big pharmaceutical companies, AIDS denialists, etc. Under Zackie's passionate leadership they have fought to get antiretroviral medication provided for HIV positive mothers in the country in order to prevent transmission of the virus to babies. They have also fought to get cheaper medication provided for AIDS patients. For full background on who they are and what they do, check them out at www.tac.org.za because I could go on and on. I will be working at TAC two full days a week, working for Zackie in his national office on various projects that come up. I'm super excited to be involved with something so cool, where I will surely learn a tremendous amount, and hope that I manage to find time to balance my new TAC involvement with two classes and some time to work on my Masters thesis. At the very least, I am sad to give up my lazy days in Hout Bay, walking the beach and contemplating life. I have still given myself some time for that, however I fear that I will no longer be able to come up with all the answers to life that I had intended to ponder. These are the sacrifices that must come with a life of activism I suppose...