Zuma 'an invisible leader'
2005-03-16 20:35
Cape Town - Deputy president Jacob Zuma has defended the activity levels of government's lead agency in the fight against Aids, the South African National Aids Council (Sanac), which he chairs.
Replying in the national assembly to a question from United Democratic Movement MP Martin Stephens, he said Sanac had met four times over the past 12 months, and deliberated on many issues pertaining to HIV and Aids.
However, Stephens described this number of meetings as "parsimonious, given the gravity of HIV and Aids being the single-biggest health crisis this country has ever faced".
Stephens also criticised the South African National Aids Trust, of which Zuma is a trustee, saying "this has reportedly never sat once".
The trust, established in 2002, administers moneys obtained by way of donations, grants, loans or subsidies used in the campaign against Aids.
"The director-general of health has been reported... as saying the high calibre and busy schedules of the people who serve on the trust made it impossible to gather them all together simultaneously.
"Given the track record of these two... bodies, can the deputy president indicate how the public can have confidence in the government's often-claimed seriousness about the Aids pandemic?" he asked.
Zuma said the number of Sanac meetings was "relatively fair given the times and issues it has discussed".
"With regard to the (South African National Aids Trust), it has also met and... there has been a lot of activities carried out by that body.
Zuma said he did not have the details of these meetings immediately available, "but it has met, it has operated".
In a statement later on Wednesday, the Democratic Alliance said Zuma had "shown repeatedly that he is not remotely interested in taking his responsibilities seriously" in terms of leading South Africa's Aids programme.
"He is an invisible leader, and for every day that he fails to lead, more people die," DA deputy health spokesperson Ryan Coetzee said in a statement.
His response to the question in the House had failed to provide any evidence of constructive actions on the part of Sanac.
"The council has met only four times, which, in the light of the scale of the Aids epidemic, seems to be pitifully inadequate."
Zuma should either resign his leadership of the Aids campaign, or get his act together and do the job properly, Coetzee said.
- SAPA