The Big Read: Don't allow the men in suits to steal TAC's glory

01 December 2015 - 02:06 By Justice Malala

On world Aids Day the men in suits will climb on to high podiums, under bright lights and large signs, and they will celebrate. They will look back at the years of darkness and say: "Never again."They will be right to celebrate because there is indeed something to celebrate here.Ten years ago we were in the grip of Aids denialism in this country. The power elite was either denying that HIV led to Aids or questioning the efficacy of antiretroviral drugs. It was a very low point in our history and our humanity."Here we are now," the men in suits will say tomorrow. They will point, as the government has already done, to the fact that we have "expanded the country's HIV treatment programme, with more than 3million people on antiretroviral treatment, reducing mother-to-child transmission and recording improved tuberculosis indicators".They will say that, since that painful period 10 years ago, researchers have said "more than a million Aids deaths have been averted" in South Africa.We shall clap, celebrate and look at ourselves and say: "Yes, it is possible to come from a place of depression to triumph."During our celebrations we should look around and recognise the fact that change is possible.As we go through the doldrums of considering what is happening at places like SAA and the SABC, as we are depressed by the wanton theft of taxpayers' money, as happened at Nkandla, we must remember that the HIV/Aids disaster once looked insurmountable.The crucial question to ask is this: How did we get here? Who got us here?It is worth remembering that we are here today because of the sterling work of the Treatment Action Campaign.Founded in 1998, mainly by Cape Town activists led by the likes of Zackie Achmat and Mark Heywood, it conscientised South Africans about the problems, stigma and lack of government action around HIV.With their distinctive "HIV Positive" T-shirts, they exposed the hypocrisy of our government throughout the 2000s while our people died in their thousands.So, even as we celebrate the strides we have made on HIV and the removal of denialism and stigma around Aids, it is worth reflecting on what our government is still doing to the TAC, particularly in the Free State.In this province a healthcare tragedy is unfolding.First, doctors are leaving.Last month it emerged that the Free State had lost 177 doctors and has 28 fewer medical specialists than a year ago, according to the 2015 SA Health Review.The review said the number of doctors in the public healthcare system in the Free State dropped from 716 in 2014 to 539.It was the latest in a series of damning revelations.In July the TAC held a commission of inquiry into the state of the province's health department.Business Day reported on its findings: "Its report, based on research and patient testimonies, paints a picture of a provincial healthcare system in crisis."It highlights problems with virtually every aspect, from inadequate emergency services to life-threatening shortages of medicines."The province is home to 3million people, 82% of whom depend on the system," it said.During this crisis, the TAC has been harassed incessantly for pointing out these problems.Intelligence agents have been harassing activists, telling them off about their work.When 117 health workers - many of them old women - peacefully marched on the provincial capital in 2014 to protest against the performance of provincial health MEC Benny Malakoane, they were arrested, charged with using a militaristic interpretation of the Gatherings Act, and found guilty in the Bloemfontein Magistrate's Court of "attending a gathering of which no notice was given" .This interpretation means that a church gathering of more than 15 people, for example, is illegal.It is the same interpretation that is being used now to target student protesters and criminalise them.In February, members of the ANC Youth League, ANC Women's League and others marched to the provincial offices of the TAC in Bloemfontein, calling for it to be deregistered. They accused it of being in cahoots with the DA to get rid of Malakoane.Ironically, Malakoane was at the time facing criminal charges on more than 100 counts of fraud and corruption.The TAC today faces, like many other non-government organisations, a national funding crunch. It is the donations of people like you and me that enable it to continue the incredibly important work it does every day under difficult political and operational conditions.When the men in suits pat themselves on the back tomorrow , remember the TAC. Remember what it did for this nation. Then do something to help it...

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