Aids rally packs CT cathedral
2002-05-02 12:51
Special Report
President Jacob Zuma has met with American businessman Bill Gates to discuss issues relating to the country's HIV/Aids pandemic.
Cape Town - Hundreds of men, women and children have crammed into St George's Cathedral in Cape Town to support the Treatment Action Campaign's stand on the provision of nevirapine for people with HIV/Aids.
The rally was timed to coincide with the government's appeal in the Constitutional Court against a High Court order forcing it to supply the antiretroviral drug to HIV-positive pregnant women.
Similar action was held around South Africa to publicise the case in the Constitutional Court, to draw attention to people's constitutional rights, and to offer the government a
hand in partnership to prevent and treat HIV.
About 100 people, clad in white T-shirts with the words "HIV
Positive", lined Wale Street outside the cathedral as they welcomed busloads of people brought to the city from outlying areas of Cape Town.
Singing and dancing in the aisles
Inside the cathedral, Dean Rowan Smith told the crowd he
was heartened that there were so many young people
present. "It's good to see you here to protest and raise your
voices for the concerns the country is facing," said Dean Smith.
Every South African had to be involved in the
fight against Aids, he said.
"We need to work together for the common good of the country.
Our concern is for those people who are HIV-positive and those
people who are dying."
He expressed the hope of a "positive outcome" at the
Constitutional Court "so we can build a better South Africa".
A Xhosa speaker raised the mood of the crowd to excitement,
and spontaneous dancing broke out in the aisles accompanied by
singing and clapping.
The group left the cathedral shortly before noon to march en
masse on parliament where they hoped to present a memorandum
addressed to Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang.
- SAPA