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Attempts to clarify Mbeki's view on Aids
15/09/2000 09:57 - (SA)
Cape Town - In a move to contain growing controversy over President Thabo Mbeki? position on HIV and Aids, the government has issued a statement and placed advertisements in Friday? Independent group newspapers in an attempt to clarify the President? and Health Minister Dr Manto Tshabalala-Msimang? views on whether HIV causes Aids.
Sapa reports that as ANC members urged President Thabo Mbeki to publicly acknowledge
that HIV did cause Aids, the government on Thursday said neither
the president nor his Cabinet had ever denied "a link" between the
virus and the disease.
The statement, placed as an advertisement in the Independent group newspapers on Friday, however, stopped short of an unambiguous statement that the
virus was in fact the cause of Aids.
"To put the issue beyond doubt in the public mind, particularly so
that the battle against this scourge may proceed with full vigour,
the following statement is issued by the government," the
Government Communication and Information Service said.
"Specifically, it is stated with emphasis that - as reference to
the record will show - neither the president nor his Cabinet
colleagues have ever denied a link between HIV and Aids."
Thursday's statement follows the leaking of an ANC national health
committee report calling on Mbeki and Health Minister Dr Manto
Tshabalala-Msimang to publicly acknowledge that HIV is the cause of
Aids.
However, the African National Congress said in a statement the
report did not "reflect the views or policies of the ANC, its
leadership structures, committees or organs".
"Thus, it (the document) remains an internal discussion document
that reflects the personal views of the author. It will be subject
to debate, critical scrutiny, further consolidation and even
reformulation if needs be," ANC spokesperson Smuts Ngonyama said.
The Cape Times reported on Thursday that the ANC draft document was
distributed to Mbeki's office, Tshabalala-Msimang and other senior
ANC officials.
It quoted a member of the committee as saying that
Tshabalala-Msimang was furious and had demanded the withdrawal of
the document.
"We refused because this is a moral stand that we need to take,"
the committee member reportedly said.
The committee's chairman, Confidence Moloko, who wrote the
document, told the newspaper that it did not reflect the official
views of the ANC.
"This is a confidential discussion document intended to stimulate
debate within the organisation... We are not ready to release it to
the public yet."
Asked for comment in Cape Town, Tshabalala-Msimang said she had not
seen the newspaper article.
Ngonyama in a statement tried to play down reports that there was
already a falling out within the ANC over the document.
"The manner in which policy is formulated in the ANC is inclusive,
open, accessible and robust.
"The ANC believes that no new mileage can be gained from a
concerted campaign that seeks to create perceptions of divisions
within the ANC, whenever issues of this nature are raised," he said
Meanwhile, Aids activist Jackie Achmat of the Treatment Action
Campaign has urged other activists to send letters supporting the
ANC health committee's report to party secretary-general Kgalema
Motlanthe.
The Democratic Alliance's health spokesperson Dr Kobus Gous, in his
reaction, said the DA welcomed the ANC's "unofficial" report.
"The president and the minister of health's attitude thus far is
not only counter productive, but also causes major confusion
amongst people at grassroots level who are not interested in the
finer nuances and motivations behind President Mbeki's arguments.
"As Mbeki and the minister of health keep on spreading their
ambiguous and unclear message, the confused community will start
displaying a ?n't care and don't believe anything?attitude - an
attitude which is fatal for the struggle against Aids."
The government again resorted to an interview with Mbeki, published
in Time magazine, to explain the president's view.
Asked whether he believed there was a link between HIV and Aids,
Mbeki said: "This is precisely where the problem starts. No, I am
saying that you cannot attribute immune deficiency solely and
exclusively to a virus."
On whether he acknowledged that HIV was a causal factor in Aids,
Mbeki replied: "I am saying sure, no problem at all, there may very
well be a virus."
Mbeki has repeatedly come under fire for appearing to doubt that
HIV causes Aids, especially after he appointed Aids dissidents -
who deny this link - to serve on his special advisory panel on the
disease.
Both Mbeki and Tshabalala-Msimang have recently refused to say
whether they believe HIV cause Aids, but in a public relations
strategy certain to confuse the public, they also deny saying that
the virus is not the cause of syndrome, the Cape Times said.
Minister in the Presidency Essop Pahad earlier this week
acknowledged government spin doctors may not have done enough to
counter the negative perceptions arising from Mbeki's statements.
However, he rejected the view that it was a public relations
disaster for the president which had impacted on his international
credibility. - Sapa
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