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Date : 09/10/2004
Source: The Presidency
Title: J Zuma: 6th Anniversary of the Partnership against AIDS


ADDRESS BY DEPUTY PRESIDENT JACOB ZUMA AT THE 6TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE PARTNERSHIP AGAINST AIDS, Greenhills Stadium, Randfontein, 9 October 2004

Programme Director
The Minister of Health, Manto Tshabalala-Msimang
Minister of Environmental Affairs, Marthinus Van Schalkwyk
Minister of Public Works, Nkosazana Stella Sigcau
MECs of Health of Gauteng and Western Cape
Members of the South African National Aids Council and all sectors represented
The Community of Randfontein
Fellow South Africans

Six years ago, the Partnership against AIDS was launched by the then Deputy President Thabo Mbeki on the 9th of October.

On that day, a call was made to all South Africans to join hands to fight against AIDS.

For the first time representatives from various sectors such as business, labour, media, youth organisations, women groups, non-governmental organisations, the sports fraternity, the entertainment industry and others came together to make a declaration.

They pledged to:
* Use every opportunity to discuss the issue of HIV and AIDS openly and to work to de-stigmatise it;
* Work together to care for those living with the virus and for the children orphaned as a result of AIDS;
* Pool their material and mental resources to support those infected and affected by the disease, and to continue searching for a vaccine and a cure; and
* To work together in the fight against HIV and AIDS.

Today we are gathered to recommit ourselves to this declaration and its implementation.

As we recommit ourselves, we are aware that we today meet during a different period to that on which the declaration was made. The epidemic has become more real over the past few years. Many among us here would know someone who has either succumbed to the disease or who is living with the virus. Therefore, we are all affected by HIV and AIDS and are living with it.

This means we now have greater responsibilities of providing support and care, and of working to de-stigmatise the disease and fight discrimination against people living with it and their families.

If people are scared to disclose their HIV positive status, they cannot seek medical help, or obtain emotional support. Let us all recommit ourselves to fighting the stigma and to promote positive attitudes towards those living with the virus and their families. They need our love and support.

The reality of AIDS necessitates more than ever before, the active involvement of all sectors, from national, provincial to local level in the Partnership against AIDS.

The partnership, embodied in the South African National Aids Council, gives us optimism, as we know that if we work together, we will be making inroads in seeking to arrest the spread of the disease, manage its impact and provide support to those who are infected and affected.

Over the last few years we have seen the growth of the partnership and the development of various civil society sectors across the country. These include Faith Organisations in HIV and AIDS Partnership, Women in Partnership against AIDS, Men in Partnership against AIDS, Traditional Healers, Traditional leaders, the Trucking Industry, Health Professionals, Trade Unions, Business and the Disabled Community.

The Partnership against AIDS theme for this year is "Respect Our Women and Protect Our Children." Women and children are particularly vulnerable to the impact of HIV and AIDS.

In 1995, South Africa ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which committed South Africa to implementing a "first call for children". The African Children's Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child was ratified in January 2000. This makes the needs of children paramount throughout the government's development strategies.

The HIV and AIDS pandemic provide a serious challenge to the optimal realisation of children's rights in our country. Family life and household composition have profoundly been changed by HIV and AIDS. Caring for sick family members and ongoing economic activities now fall increasingly to the elderly and very young children.

Children orphaned by AIDS face not only the trauma of losing their parents, but also the likelihood of poverty at the loss of a breadwinner.

They also face the challenge of becoming breadwinners themselves, having to find ways of earning money to raise their siblings.

Social security remains an important focus because a significant number of children come from families living in poverty conditions and social grants remain the only means of income.

Since 1994 government has sought to respond to these challenges through policy and legislative reform, for example the development of the National Integrated Plan for Children Infected and Affected by HIV and AIDS.

The three key components of the plan are the Life Skills Program, Voluntary Counselling and Testing, as well as home and community based care and support.

While we do our bit as government, partnerships with communities and the civil sector remain of paramount importance. Already many organisations are working to support children in distress, and we applaud them for doing this.

We are also aware of great number of teachers who support infected school children, especially in primary schools. They ensure that the children take their medication in school, take them to clinics to treat opportunistic infections, and play a very positive role in their lives. We applaud the actions of these public servants, they are truly exemplary.

With regards to women, we reiterate that the unequal relations between men and women still disadvantage women. The inequities make women vulnerable, as many are dependent on male partners economically and socially.

In line with the

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