Committed Activists fight HIV/AIDS Denialism in South Africa

Thirteen activists dedicated to forcing the government of South Africa to care for its HIV/AIDS population formed the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) on Human Rights Day in 1998. In the words of one of its early members, "Previous organizations weren’t confrontational enough." South Africa's AIDS infection rate was already near the highest in the world, and the disease was killing hundreds of people every day, but the government was more interested in denying the epidemic than in paying money to slow its rapid spread.

HIV/AIDS Dissidents Highway

In the late 1990s, South African president Thabo Mbeki said that he was "doubtful about whether AIDS is caused by HIV." In 2004, he declared that he did not know anyone who had died of HIV/AIDS, and earlier this year his Deputy President embarrassed the country on national television by reporting that he had showered after unprotected sex with an HIV+ woman in order to decrease his chances of contracting the virus. TAC struggles against the dismal example set by these and other leaders.

When it was reported in 2001 that every day 150 unborn babies contract HIV in South Africa, TAC sent letters to the Minister of Health and to the National Parliament, seeking a response. They were ignored. TAC then joined forces with the AIDS Law Project (ALP) and took the government of South Africa to court. TAC and ALP maintained that it is unconstitutional to allow unborn babies to contract HIV when such infections can be prevented. Their case reached the high court in 2002, where the judges ruled in their favor, deciding that the government has no right to ignore scientifically proven facts that can save lives. The high court then compelled the government to develop a National Treatment Plan.

Comic take on the Ministers of Health

Unfortunately, the National Treatment Plan fell far short of its stated goals. Mbeki promised that 53,000 people would receive antiretroviral (ARV) treatment by March 2004; he was only able to reach 14,000. By February 2003, TAC had already begun to lose faith in letter writing and formal requests. In the largest public demonstration since the struggle against apartheid, they marched in Johannesburg with 25,000 people, drawing attention to the government's failure to deliver on its promises. The government continued to ignore their dissatisfaction.

After heavy debate that nearly divided the organization, the leadership of TAC decided to begin a campaign of civil disobedience. For more than six months they disrupted all speeches given by Thabo Mbeki, his Minister of Health, and the Minister of Trade. They also periodically occupied the Department of Health and various ministry buildings across the country. Other international groups spread this civil disobedience overseas, ensuring that Mbeki's reception was contested in all regions of the globe — in some cases South African embassies were even blockaded by sympathetic activists. Meanwhile, TAC and ALP went to the police, charging the South African government with homicide for their neglect of HIV/AIDS patients. Again their accusations reached the high court and again the high court ruled in their favor — this time compelling the government to produce a time table for distribution of ARVs.

400 million rand for President Mbeki's private jet

Currently, the South African government provides ARV treatment for 200,000 citizens and seems to be moving, however sluggishly, in the right direction. Accordingly, the Treatment Action Campaign is forming new goals for the coming decade. Mr. Dennis Matwa, the Human Resources Administrator of the National Office in Muizenberg, explains that TAC will be working to "narrow the gap between the public and private health systems." "At present," he says, "there is a first world, lily-white, well funded system and a third world, predominantly black, and underfunded system, which is clearly a legacy of apartheid."

Despite the fact that HIV/AIDS is colorblind, the politics of color are a necessary part of the struggle in South Africa. Mr. Matwa blames the ability of many financially secure white South Africans to discreetly and successfully treat themselves at expensive private clinics for strengthening a dangerous denialism within the community at large. He says, "White citizens don't want to be open about their status and white collar workers are dying prematurely; they won't talk about the disease. HIV is not a killer. Stigma is the killer." TAC is working tirelessly to convince HIV-infected people to give testimony about their lives and their courses of treatment. They produce posters and leaflets specific to given neighborhoods so that the faces of the people living with AIDS will be familiar to the populations that read about them — naturally, the materials are printed in the necessary local languages.

Dennis Matwa and Nomfundo Eland, TAC

Ms. Nomfundo Eland, the National Treatment Literacy Coordinator for TAC, is responsible for TAC's top-notch publications. Their booklets, HIV in Our Lives and ARVs in Our Lives, are exceptionally well done. Both are substantive (weighing in at 70 and 115 pages, respectively), but both are imminently approachable. They are large-print illustrated handbooks, full of testimonials and well-organized, reassuring, understandable text.

For instance, the first handbook suggests how to cope with the first week after an HIV diagnosis. On the second day, it advises that patients return to the clinic for more counseling: "Your counselor, nurse or doctor might have talked a lot after they gave you your HIV result. Don't feel bad if you were too shocked to listen carefully. Go back to the clinic the next day and ask any questions you have. It will give the counselor or nurse confidence to see that you come back to him/her. They will feel encouraged to spend more time with you."

Each of the suggestions in these booklets is given in a gentle and familiar tone, avoiding clinical jargon or other impersonal speech. Groups working in HIV/AIDS across the continent should consider communicating with TAC about the possibility of sharing these resources.

The activists involved in this organization show no signs of relenting. Early in 2006 the government attempted to ban them from attending the UN Conference on HIV/AIDS on the grounds that they would disparage the South African government. TAC reported this tactic and other complaints directly to the UN Secretary General, who in turn applied pressure and secured permission for TAC to attend. Under the leadership of Nobel Peace Prize nominee Zakie Achmat — who attracted the world's attention when he refused to undergo life-saving ARV therapy in solidarity with the neglected AIDS patients of his country — TAC are sure to be at the forefront of the struggle against HIV/AIDS in South Africa for a long time to come.

Please feel free to contact TAC through their website, http://www.tac.org.za.


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