ANC Aids 'bond' sparks (w)rath
2005-06-13 21:42
Special Report
The South African government has announced a joint venture to reduce the cost of anti-retroviral drugs with a Swiss company.
Cape Town - The Democratic Alliance says it is unacceptable that the African National Congress's chief whip is helping to spread the propaganda of Aids dissident and vitamin peddler Matthias Rath in parliament.
Apparently, Matthew Goniwe, ANC chief whip, gave permission for a five-page letter from Rath to be placed in MPs' letterboxes.
The DA's Dianne Kohler Barnard said: "Rath had been given this permission despite the fact that he has been prohibited from advertising his products in Europe and America since he cannot substantiate his claims."
Rath has been in the news lately because he has been encouraging people with HIV/Aids to abandon antiretroviral drugs in favour of vitamin supplements.
Last week, Rath's Dr Rath Foundation was widely criticised at the South African Aids conference in Durban where speakers and delegates spoke out strongly against the negative influence his campaign had had on the distribution of aids medication.
In Khayelitsha, Aids workers are complaining, too, that the ANC's Youth League is distributing Rath's leaflets and posters in the township.
Two weeks ago, a member of the ANC Youth League took part in a radio station's phone-in programme on behalf of the Dr Rath Foundation.
- Die Burger