Speaking Truth to Power is about the resurgence of activism in post-apartheid South Africa. A small legal NGO in Johannesburg, the AIDS Law Project (ALP), along with its allies in the Treatment Action Campaign, fought for more than a decade for the rights of people living with HIV/AIDS. Today South Africa has laws that protect the rights of people living with HIV/AIDS and the largest treatment programme in the world. This would not have happened without dedicated activism and a commitment to social justice. Speaking Truth to Power tells how people used the Constitution and the law in this struggle for social justice.

The ALP’s story is told through their clients and the major legal cases, which form the milestones in this struggle. It is a story about ordinary people who in their own way did some extraordinary things at an exceptionally difficult time. Their clients stood up against prejudice and disinformation because they felt strongly about their rights. For some it was discrimination against themselves; for others it was discrimination against their fellow citizens who were vulnerable because they were living with a disease that had no cure and they were often seriously ill, even dying. To add insult to injury the country’s president and, for some time, the government denied the scale of the epidemic. People’s rights were being violated, but the law gave them a way to reassert them, generating the first resurgence of civil society in post-apartheid South Africa. This book is about the power of people and their courage to speak the truth.

Speaking Truth to Power is written by Didi Moyle.

After a career in journalism and more than 13 years in government, Moyle is now a freelance writer, strategist, researcher and life coach. Her next project is a case study of the 11 years she spent working in tourism.

Speaking Truth to Power is published by Jacana Media.