South African president Thabo Mbeki, did not mention HIV in his annual state of the nation speech to the country’s parliament, despite the fact that some epidemiologists are predicting that 200,000 South Africans will die of the disease this year. Instead Mbeki said the government would continue its current HIV policies as part of a wider health policy encompassing tuberculosis and malaria.
The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) staged a march and demonstration outside the parliament, intended to call attention to the government’s lack of provision of HIV treatments.
Several opposition MPs from the Democratic Alliance listened to Mbeki’s speech wearing TAC’s “HIV Positive” tee-shirts.
Mandela distances himself from demo
However, only days after being praised by Bill Clinton for his role in highlighting the impact of HIV on South Africa, Nelson Mandela refused to endorse the TAC march and demonstration.
The former South African president has issued a statement saying that although be supported TAC’s call for wider treatment access, he did not endorse the march and demonstration outside the Parliament building.
Mandela has repeatedly spoken out on HIV, often criticising the policy of his successor Thabo Mbeki.
Although not formally endorsing today's activities, a spokesperson for the Mandela Foundation said that “people should be allowed access to…treatment” at their own risk whilst South African “safety” studies into anti-HIV treatment continued. Some treatment activists are speculating that pressure has been put on Mandela by the ANC to withhold backing for the demonstration to prevent embarrassment for the party he led as South Africa’s first post-apartheid premier.