Date: 14/03/2007

Source: The Presidency

Title: Mlambo-Ngcuka: National Consultation Conference on Draft HIV & AIDS and STI Strategic Plan

Keynote address by the Deputy President P Mlambo-Ngcuka to the National Conference to finalise the National Strategic Plan (NSP) on HIV and AIDS, 2007 - 2011

Thank you Deputy Minister for the welcome
The acting Minister of Health, Minister Jeff Radebe,
Ministers and Deputy Ministers present here
Leaders of the various stakeholder organisations, business, labour and civil society,
Deputy Minister of Health,
Representatives of international partners,
Leaders and representatives of faith-based organisations,
Officials from government departments and local government,
Ladies and gentlemen

Good morning!

First, thanks to all of you for accepting our invitation to attend this two-day meeting. Your presence here today, and hopefully for the full duration of this conference, signifies the importance of the fight against HIV and AIDS to the organisation that you represent. Secondly, may I wish our Minister of Health, who is still recuperating, a very speedy recovery. We have missed her inputs during the drafting of the National Strategic Plan (NSP) and will certainly continue to miss her wisdom. I am sure we can agree that we send a message to her, wishing her speedy recovery. In his State of the Nation Address on 9 February 2007, President Mbeki explained that:
"Our programme in the social sector for this year will also include, continuers work to address especially the various non-natural causes of death in our society as well as lifestyle diseases, malaria, the various strains of tuberculosis (TB), road accidents and violent crime."

"Further in this regard referring to addressing the causes of death, government commits itself to intensify the campaign against HIV and AIDS and to improve its implementation of all elements of the comprehensive approach such as prevention, home-based care and treatment. We shall ensure that the partnerships built over the years are strengthened and that our improved national comprehensive strategy against AIDS and sexually transmitted infections is finalised as soon as possible. We are gathered here to take this work forward."

The President also said, "This year we shall complete concrete plans on implementation of the final stages of our programmes to meet the targets for universal access to water in 2008, sanitation in 2010 and electricity in 2012. We shall also finalise the strategy and programmes to address matters of social cohesion, including the comprehensive and integrated anti-poverty strategy we have mentioned, as well as address issues pertaining to national unity, value systems and identity."

This gathering here marks yet another milestone in the implementation of this directive from the President. A few days ago we adopted a plan for 365 days on no violence against women and children, a plan that must give us daily actions that will keep the issue on the table for all to act. We know the linkages between abuse of women and the spread of HIV and AIDS. Next month we will further integrate contributions of stakeholder to the calendar of 365 days of no violence against women and children. But even as we come together to deal a blow to AIDS and its impact on our society, we are conscious of the fact that we cannot deal with this monster outside a fight against poverty and underdevelopment.

In this regard I want to quote from a submission made to the Health Portfolio Committee in Parliament about seven years ago in 2000, by one of the key stakeholders in the fight against AIDS, they said:
"The creation of quality and sustainable employment would be a key component of improving people's quality of life, reducing their likelihood of contracting HIV as well as enhancing the capacity of sufferers to cope with the disease or family members and communities to support people living with the disease. A comprehensive strategy for dealing with HIV and AIDS thus must have job retention and creation as one of its planks."

This statement, which was made by Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), in 2000, remains relevant today and I would like to submit that not only should the issue of addressing the eradication of poverty through job creation and economic growth be one of the foundations of the strategy against AIDS, but it should be one of its pillars.

The majority of our people who are poor and are living in conditions of poverty and squealer, are prone to various diseases associated with their circumstance of poverty, such as TB, malaria, including HIV, and cannot fight against these diseases, while continuing to live in those conditions. Our fight against HIV and AIDS therefore, must necessarily be about our fight against poverty. Accelerated and Shared Growth has to intensify the shared component must be viewed as means to save the poor people who often carry the burden of disease. The statement of the President during the State of the Nation address, which I quoted earlier, speaks to:
1. the range of issues that we need to tackle to have an impact on HIV incidence and prevalence
2. the need for a comprehensive approach to combating this disease
3. the need for stakeholders to work together under the leadership of government.

This meeting reflects our commitment to work together, to outline clearly what these range of issues we need to tackle are, so that today is better than yesterday and tomorrow is better than today. When we get back to South African National AIDS Council (SANAC) we will have to give this strategy hands and feet. Our action needs to be measured because what we cannot measure does not count. The NSP draft provides a summary of where we have come from and clearly much effort has been given by you and the government and government has been in the forefront.

We must build on the successes of the past 12 years and as well as learn from our failures in certain areas, including managing differences better and communicating them better. In the National Strategic Plan for HIV and AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) for the period 2000 to 2005, was a multi-sectoral plan to which different sectors who were to contribute through the contribution by sectors was which was unequal. The challenge during the next five years is to ensure that we all improve significantly and implement a plan, that we all commit ourselves to, fully and that it has to be better than last time.

We all know what to do because this is not a new plan. We are building on our 2000 to 2005 plan. In the review of the old plan we identified the gaps, which we are now closing and we are removing obstacles to implementation and addressing new challenges and new trends, further we are re-energising ourselves for implementation. When we leave from here tomorrow it must be all systems go. Government has already committed R14 billion over five years and will hope to attract additional resources from other sources when the figures have been finalised.

In order to get everyone on board and to be inclusive we established a drafting team made up of people with a wide range of expertise and from various sectors, both governmental and non-governmental. This team has worked very hard to produce the draft that we have today and I wish to thank them for the long hours, including weekends that they spent on this task. I wish to also thank their families for allowing them to spend this time on this very important task. In fact, I would like that team to stand and that we give them a big round of applause.

The draft before us allows for every sector and government including, the provinces and municipalities to develop detailed implementation plans. As that we will allow for local decision-making on the detail, taking local circumstances into account. While working towards common national objectives. We realise that even a decentralised approach still requires a strong centre. This implies that we will need a stronger SANAC which will be responsible for co-ordination, supporting sectors and monitoring and evaluation.

The capacity of the SANAC secretariat is therefore going to be strengthened. The Department of Health will soon be advertising the posts for senior staff that will be given the responsibility to oversee and co-ordinate all partnerships in HIV and AIDS, in the main the co-ordination of the work of SANAC partners. We will also provide capacity that will ensure sectors are supported in the best possible way. The added capacity will enable the secretariat to function more effectively to respond in times of crisis e.g. intensify life orientation programmes when we see an upsurge in teen pregnancy, together with the department of education, who have been tasked with this work.

To our social partners present here today, we all must commit to be real partners. Most of you have been to sector summits, in those summits I hope you have generated enough detail for developing action plans which we will need soon. We can work together to implement those plans with vigour. To people living with the virus, let us recommit ourselves to ensuring that we win our own individual fight against the virus. Let us commit to be at the forefront of the battle and all of us must fight to end discrimination of people living with Aids. Let us make sure that we adhere to the principles of positive living, and delay the development of AIDS defining conditions.

Each of us who are living with AIDS must commit to not to re-infect oneself, and not to infect anybody else. That is the most progressive action we can take. If we do not know our status we 'HAVE TO TAKE ACTION to know IT' so we protect others ourselves and we can live positively, if we are sick and need treatment, let us make sure that we adhere religiously to treatment and let us all educate other people about treatment adherence, let us support people to cope with treatment. If you are negative stay negative as your own personal fight. This again is your biggest gift to Africa; let us uphold ABC: Abstain, Be Faithful and Condomise.

To young people please delay your first sexual experience. I want to appeal to the young people of this country, because I believe they are the most important group in the fight against AIDS. They more than all of us, must believe in an Africa that is free of HIV. To make my point let me solicit the assistance of a poet by the name of Walter Rinder and he says:

"youth building
your life upon a rock
knowing your self worth
developing your understanding
structuring your own respect
the thread stands firm

if your choice be upon quicksand
entirely dependent on others
escaping in unnatural stimulants
loss of self confidence
then your life crumbles
the thread begins to unravel"

Basically what this poet is saying is you are our future, and we want to build that future on a solid foundation, on a solid rock. This we will do by the choices you make. Choose life and give us hope we need, the hope for a better future. Our future as a nation and continent in many ways is in your hands and depends on the choices you make now.

You are our hope for a generation free of HIV and AIDS. We as society must, free you from Poverty and underdevelopment and we must support you. Working together as partners with African broadcasters on their HIV and Aids campaign we must dare to dream of an African continent that is free of HIV, if we dream it we can work for it. If we are united and committed like we were when we fought apartheid we can conquer. We need to unite also to conquer violence and abuse against women and children. We know gender based abuse contributes to the spread of HIV and STIs.

Programme Director, the indifference and non-action of the so-called good men is unhelpful, we need to see real action from the men's sector and we must help them to mobilise. Being good men is not good enough and to do nothing is bad. Families who allow the abuse to happen in their families and hide it, the law enforces who abdicate responsibility, judges and magistrates who give sentences and make utterances that show their misplaced solidarity with abusers. Judges who are apologists for abusers, health officials who fail to care, jail officers who let rapists and murderers escape are all part of the problem we face.
For those law enforcers who work hard, who risk all to reinforce the law we salute you. We salute our caregivers; we salute our health workers and social workers. We salute activists who are not twiddling while the house burns: We lament the indifference of parents whose voice and contribution to education, moral regeneration and fight against HIV and AIDS and abuse is absent. Parents must become, partners NOW. They have a duty to protect their offspring and the future.

To emphasise again on partnerships I quote the National Executive Council (NEC) of the African National Congress, five years ago exactly. They said: "We confident that, inspired by this joint commitment to action, South Africans can succeed in managing and ultimately defeating AIDS. Our primary call, therefore, is for all of us to lend a caring hand in building hope."

"There is hope because South Africans have the internal strength to ensure their self-preservation as individuals, as communities, and as a nation...

"There is hope because the partnerships that we built over the years are an important resource and would continually be strengthened...

Coincidentally the same NEC is meeting on exactly the same day tomorrow. Exactly five years later on the day, when we emerge from this conference on Thursday, 15 March 2007, we must emerge with the same message of hope and action. We must hit the ground running and we must work to meet the targets. "There is hope because the meeting on the National Strategic Plan that brings us together here in Birchwood Hotel will emerge with new commitment and we can shout loudly in one voice and say, Siyayinqoba Ingculazi (AIDS)! Siyayidingisa Indlala!"

Programme director, I wish to urge all of us, as we engage with the draft, to think clearly about what needs to be done given our reality. We need to ensure that the plan we finalise is a plan that we will implement and to which we will fully commit. I can assure you on behalf of the government, we are ready and committed to do even much better and to build on our track record. If you compare us to countries of similar resource capability we have done much more and want to do even more but do it together.

We invite the world bodies to be partners and to continue giving us support, but also for some to restrain themselves from stoking fires and to exaggerate our problems and even publish untruths. There is no virtue in pulling us down. Nobody wins. As government departments and political representatives we must be exemplary and lead by example in this fight in walking an extra mile and walking the talk. We salute Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang for her efforts. We salute our staff for their efforts and all of you here and at all over South Africa for your efforts. We welcome the acting Minister to the team and we thank MECs for their hard work.

Following this meeting we will table the revised draft to the next meeting of the SANAC for formal adoption. We encourage provinces to also work accordingly, Emva kwalokho asisabuyeli emuva. Forward ever backward never! I wish you a robust and healthy deliberation over the next one and a half days. All of us here we must stand up and be counted, as Hugh Masekela says: "I wanna be there when our people win the battle against AIDS. I want to lend a hand, THUMA MINA," Today we say: "THUMA MINA"

I thank you!

Issued by: The Presidency
14 March 2007

Last Modified: Wed, 14 Mar 2007 15:50:00 SAST