Patricia to boycott parly
2003-02-03 23:29
Susan Segar
Cape Town - Patricia de Lille is to skip next week's opening of Parliament in favour of joining a mass protest march on Parliament calling on the government to provide treatment for HIV-positive South Africans.
De Lille told the Witness that she considers the march "far more important" than next Friday's opening of Parliament.
"We cannot continue business as usual while so many people are dying, especially as we could prevent it," De Lille said.
The feisty politician - who has also made her mark as a strong opponent to the government's multi-billion rand arms procurement programme - is known for making either a fashion statement or a serious impact every year when Parliament opens. One year she wore a T-shirt protesting the arms deal, with the words: "Food, not Arms - The arms deal is out of my hands" written on it.
"The government made a very good statement in April 2002, when they promised to provide anti-retroviral treatment, but they do not even have a plan and haven't signed the agreement between labour, business and government. We have to make a stand," De Lille said.
The march for treatment, organised by the activist group Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) - is expected to draw thousands of participants from numerous organisations, including the Aids Consortium, Cosatu, Positive Muslims and the Women on Farms Project.
TAC has threatened to start a civil disobedience campaign if an agreement is not signed by the end of this month.
De Lille - who, for several years has focussed on the HIV/Aids crisis in her work as parliamentarian, said this year will be no different.
"But this is not the only crisis we face. Access to health is, in general, in crisis. The Health Minister is doing very little about Tuberculosis and AIDS. We must focus on the whole Health ministry."
On the arms deal, De Lille - said she will continue watching developments closely - particularly the court cases pertaining to the deal which will take place this year.
"The arms deal will never go away. I will be watching closely to see whether we will get the returns of the offsets we were promised."
De Lille said she will also, in the year ahead, be taking a close look at the issue of credit bureaus and the blacklisting of people. "It is going on all the time. People are really struggling to get loans from banks because they have been blacklisted. We need to test the legality of credit bureaus."
De Lille, who recently took up the game of golf as a form of relaxation inbetween her hectic work schedule, said she will definitely continue with the "difficult" game. "I am trying to bring my handicap down. I try to play nine holes once a week - and I go to the driving range whenever I can," she said.
- The Witness