Dear friends and fellow South Africans,

Each morning as I prepare for work, I attach a red ribbon to my lapel.
Today many people across the world will perform this small act in support of
World Aids Day. But for me, it is an every day habit.

I wear a red ribbon in memory of my children, Prince Nelisuzulu Benedict
Buthelezi and Princess Mandisi Sibukakonke Buthelezi, who both died in 2004
after battling the Human Immunodeficiency Virus for some time.

When my son died on the 24th of April 2004, I became one of the millions of
fathers who, over three decades, have lost children to HIV/Aids. I knew I
could not maintain the cultural practice of staying silent about the cause
of Nelisuzulu's death.

My background, culture and position made it somehow socially inappropriate
for me to speak publically about the intimate matter of sex. But my
conscience instructed me otherwise, and I have always been a man who heeds
his conscience. I do this so that I can accept full responsibility for my
actions and know that whatever I do, I do believing it is right.

So I spoke at Nelisuzulu's funeral, and four months later at Mandisi's
funeral, openly declaiming the tragedy of HIV/Aids. This small act opened
the way for other leaders to begin to speak. Shortly after Nelisuzulu's
death, President Nelson Mandela lost a grandson to HIV/Aids, and he too
spoke openly about it.

I was gratified to see leaders begin to speak about HIV/Aids, its causes,
its consequences and how we could stop it. When I spoke out in 2004, it was
not the first time I had spoken about the disease. Indeed, I had already
been a champion in the fight against HIV/Aids for more than a decade. But
when I spoke about how the pandemic had become real for me, how it had
touched my life and changed my family, my message was suddenly magnified.

People understood that if Mangosuthu Buthelezi could admit his child had
died of Aids, they could admit it too. And if it was alright to speak about
Aids, maybe it was alright to get tested, ask for help and assist those who
are HIV positive.

I do not claim that my small act changed the course of the HIV/Aids pandemic
in South Africa. But I do know that it saved lives. Just as my action in
KwaZulu Natal saved lives, when I tasked the then Premier Dr LPHM Mtshali
with providing antiretrovirals to clinics throughout the province to prevent
mother-to-child transmission of HIV/Aids.

The saga of what the IFP did in KwaZulu Natal, to force the national
Government to perform its constitutional obligation of saving lives, is
documented and need not be retold. It was simply a handful of people acting
on their conscience and getting big results.

This week the media highlighted a case in which people not acting on their
conscience will also have big results. Several of the donors who promised
funds to the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria have
reneged on their commitment and are refusing to release funding. Others are
scaling back on their commitment. As a result, the Global Fund is in
financial crisis.

More than seven million lives have been saved in the first decade of the
Global Fund's operation. Right now, it funds half the antiretroviral
treatments being administered worldwide. But for the first time in its
history, the Fund has had to cancel an entire round of funding, placing in
jeopardy the fight against HIV/Aids in the developing countries of Africa.

Sub-Saharan Africa remains the world's hotspot for the pandemic. The fight
here is tougher and more critical than anywhere else. Like Swaziland,
Lesotho and Zambia, South Africa cannot afford funding cuts to HIV/Aids
programmes. The increase last year in HIV prevalence among pregnant women
should be a warning bell, telling us that more must be done.

I therefore call on international donors to honour their commitments. I call
on Africa's leaders to accept the responsibility to speak about HIV/Aids.
And I call on South Africans to heed their conscience whenever they see a
red ribbon. Let the sight of the red ribbon prompt us to ask ourselves
whether we are being faithful, responsible and honest in all our intimate
relationships.

I hope that when people see the red ribbon they are challenged in their
conscience and inspired in their commitment. With that hope, as I prepare
for work each morning, I will attach a red ribbon to my lapel.

Yours in the service of the nation,