The South African National Aids Council (Sanac) headed by Deputy President Paul Mashatile is at odds with the South African Local Government Association (Salga) over funding.
A proposal by the council for funding of its programmes to come from local government hit a snag recently as Salga said municipalities were penniless. The council has criticised Salga's response to its draft multisectoral policy framework for HIV, TB and STIs co-ordination.
Sanac is responsible for putting together government, civil society and the private sector collective response to HIV, TB and STIs. The council had proposed to Salga for Aids councils in all nine provinces to be funded by local government — including salaries of full-time staff, facilities, equipment, communications and the direct expenses of day-to-day work.
Salga, however, contested the proposal saying municipalities were not collecting enough revenue.
“Low revenue collection is a commonality among many municipalities and to assign the HIV response function at a municipal level will not only worsen their limited capacity but also at a greater scale impede economic growth,” said Salga.
The council's board of trustees was not happy about Salga’s stance, describing it as “somewhat detached”.
“The status of South Africa’s burden of HIV and TB does not afford any of us the luxury to pick and choose what we can and cannot do. It cannot be business as usual and we all have a role to play, with or without resources. What is key here is accountability. Salga needs to understand they are a key role player and have a duty to ensure local Aids council structures are functional,” said the board chairperson Bonolo Ramokhele.
“To simply fold their arms and say HIV and TB work is an unfunded mandate is irresponsible and delinquent.”
Ramokhele believed municipalities should expand their mandate to support the establishment of Aids councils in municipalities. The council pleaded poverty, detailing that in all provinces, Aids councils were “severely underfunded and understaffed”.
“In some provinces and districts there is little or no political buy-in and just as little interest in improving the situation, thus making it difficult to implement the plans. For the country to turn the tide against HIV, TB and STIs, well-functioning Aids councils are paramount.”
The DP is of the view that a solution will be found to assist in fighting the problem
— Keith Khoza, deputy president's spokesperson
Mashatile's spokesperson Keith Khoza told TimesLIVE there were ongoing discussions with the two entities to find a solution.
“The DP believes the government in its totality which includes all spheres is committed to the fight against HIV/Aids and TB. There is an ongoing discussion between Sanac and government spheres to address shortcomings of resources. The DP is of the view that a solution will be found to assist in fighting the problem,” Khoza said.
Despite disagreeing with Sanac's funding model, Salga spokesperson Sivuyile Mbambato told TimesLIVE the entity “fully” supports the need for a multisectoral response to HIV, TB and STIs.
“We have raised concerns, particularly regarding the funding model, which we believe needs further attention within the framework,” Mbambato said.
“We are working with Sanac on the induction of municipal councillors and officials on strengthening the response to HIV, TB and STI. We are partnering with Sanac in the establishment and induction of Aids councils. We have engaged Sanac on funding matters even before the development of a multisectoral framework on HIV, TB and STI.
“We are also lobbying municipalities to integrate HIV, TB and STI on their IDPs [Integrated Development Plan]. We have also developed a local government position on HIV, TB and STI in consultation with Sanac which supports the need for municipalities to participate in the response.”
Sanac spokesperson Nelson Dlamini said the organisation had referred a memo which recommends to the cabinet that the government, through the Treasury, “should ring-fence funds for co-ordination of the HIV, TB and STIs response from national to local levels.”
The memo is still undergoing approval processes.
TimesLIVE recently reported Gauteng had recorded a high prevalence of HIV among residents aged between 50 and 54. This was revealed in the sixth South African HIV prevalence, incidence and behaviour survey for Gauteng released by the Human Sciences Research Council.
HIV prevalence peaked at 32.2% among residents aged between 50 and 54 in 2022. In 2017 the prevalence peak was in a younger age group, at 31.9% among those aged 35-39.
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