POLITICS

Lekota infected with AIDS denialism - Mike Waters

The DA MP expresses dismay at the COPE president's recent remarks on HIV/AIDS

In a recent interview on the subject of HIV/AIDS, Congress of the People (COPE) Leader Moisuoa Lekota has revealed that he, and by implication, the whole of COPE is infected with the AIDS denialism of Thabo Mbeki's era. Mr Lekota, like Mbeki, has refused to state that HIV causes AIDS, has prevaricated on whether he is committed to fighting the disease, and has misrepresented antiretrovirals (ARVs) as dangerous poisons.

The simple reality is that while Mr Lekota has taken a brave decision to leave the ANC, he remains infected with some of the most damaging views held by that organisation. It is simply unacceptable for the COPE President to compare ARVs to the evils of such products as skin lightening creams, when in fact these drugs are essential in prolonging the life of people living with HIV/AIDS.

Lekota also conveniently forgets that the ANC government only provided life-saving ARVs once it was compelled to do so by the Constitutional Court. If Lekota and his fellow cabinet members had acted sooner, then literally hundreds of thousands of South African lives could have been saved.

In the same interview Mr Lekota also, astonishingly, refuses to acknowledge that HIV causes AIDS. When asked the simple question "does HIV cause AIDS?", Lekota, in classic Mbeki-style replied, "Look I am not an expert on HIV and AIDS and I don't want to venture an opinion on whether it does or not - I am not a medical doctor. So I will not comment on that." For a man who wants to lead a serious opposition party, this view is outrageous and is an insult to the millions of South Africans who are living with the disease as well as the millions who have already lost their lives to AIDS.

Given his inability to state unambiguously that HIV causes AIDS, it is perhaps not surprising that Mr. Lekota also failed unequivocally to commit to battling the disease. It is now incumbent upon Lekota to explain to the people of South Africa why he does not accept the efficacy of ARVs; why he does not believe that HIV causes AIDS; and why he is reluctant to personally lead the fight against the scourge of this disease.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) for its part stands ready to play its part in leading the fight against this pandemic. We are the party which pioneered the provision of ARVs to HIV-positive mothers; which has doggedly exposed the previous Minister of Health's shortcomings on this issue; and which, when we become the government of the Western Cape and any other provinces, will spare no effort in leading the fight against this disease, which has already destroyed far too many lives in South Africa.

Statement issued by Mike Waters, MP, Democratic Alliance spokesperson on health, February 26 2009

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