Minister reveals 'shocking' figures on Aids-related deaths

At last some transparency about the matter. This is the first step towards addressing the problem. Good stuff, minister Motsoaledsi.

Statistics have never bothered the ANC before, I don't think his is going to cause more than the slightest ripple. But blame it all on Mbeki as if he never was part of the liberation machine, fine with me.

Let's get this straight. So Mbeki's policies have killed more people than the policies of the apartheid regime? Wow. Surely this can't be true?

Somebody needed to say it ! I heard somewhere the SACP talking about "Charge Mbeki.". I don't know if it was for this. It doesn't matter though; I am just skeptical of this apportioning of blame to Mbeki alone as if he was a lone ranger without the willing support of the brightest in the liberation movement and alliance structures. Every comrade I know mouthed Mbeki and Mokaba's words verbatim, challenging the hypothesis, daring for pictures of the virus to be shown, denying knowledge of any AIDS death, all the way to their own or their family and friends's graves. It was almost a crime to argue against Mbeki's position all the way to the beetroots and garlics. I know I got called all kinds of names trying to speak some sense to some of my comrades. So, yes as much as Mbeki championed the conspiracy theories which led to this genocide, he had the full support of the entire movement and hordes of "I am an African" black intellectuals with him. Infact, when Mandela made a break from Mbeki's ill-advised position of denialism, nobody in the movement followed him nor supported him when the old man was being chastized.

They all need to take responsibility as a collective, ANC, SACP, COPE, everybody !

Now as far as Mbeki goes, he has indeed made his own mark in history; as grand as his Napoleonic ambitions warranted. Let's hope he sleeps well at night satisfied of his place in history. Seriously though, this tragedy will live long and it will be the first thing future generations remember him by. I think that is damning enough.

The main responsibility for this disaster lies with the South African voters. A party that willfully ignored and aggravated the biggest catastrophe ever to hit our country should not be trusted again, and yet is re-elected.

The ANC is powerless against the delusions of its leaders of the day. The majority of ordinary South Africans are not, but they don't seem to know it yet.

Let's hope enough of us wake up while we still have an effective vote.

Kholekile Tshunungwa. You being another person giving me hope that there are indeed black guys (?) who have the savvy to know that Aids have and still will be one of the most serious problems we have to address in SA. What I appreciated in this world of denial, is that people like Madiba and Buthelezi admitted to the fact that they had children whom died of Aids. Are you of the opinion that we can indeed, solve this issue in the future. I know of some other African countries, being quite successful in curbing this horrible disease.

Be serious. Aids isn't going to abate just because there's a smiling new president in power (and one who can't resist unprotected sex with a known HIV+ woman, at that.) Aids will only abate once the masses finally stop copulating without using condoms. The responsibility really begins and ends with only two people -- the two people having sex.

Thanks Kholekile, you are right. One man alone can't be held responsible when he was supported blindly by the majority. The lesson, as you say, is for us to open our eyes and see the realities of our future in SA, and use our sensibilities to proactively seek the best for our country when we walk into the voting booth.

The ANC Ministers urgently needs Basic EDUCATION for a start …
SCARY to think what and how much EDUCATION the masses need that vote them into power…

And Malema received a Grade 12 certificate… S C A R Y !!!

Minister reveals 'shocking' figures on Aids-related deaths

So, what's your point?????

Pointing fingers at Mbeki - or anyone else - won't save any of the one thousand South Africans who die EVERY DAY from Aids related causes. Efficiently run prevention and treatment campaigns will save lives, but these are still being talked about rather than implemented.

The statement that we have the biggest treatment programme in the world is meaningless - almost every other country in the world is treating a far greater proportion of those in need than we are, and they do it willingly, not because they are obliged to do so by a court ruling.

Our president, by his own sworn testimony, embodies the very behaviour which is responsible for our extreme infection rates. Whether we like it or not, this places a giant question-mark over every pronouncement he makes on the subject. It's like expecting Adolph Hitler to argue for Jewish rights!

The time for talk is long gone - save your applause for the time when our government turns words into deeds.

Nonsense......this minister is making an unsubstantiated correlation between an increase in the death rate with AIDS. Firstly, AIDS is a chronic disease, so u dont have to die from it. Second, the increase in death rate could also be due to crime which sky-rocketed after the 1994 elections, natural death rate due to population increase, malaria and other diseases.

HIV AIDS is not a big deal anymore, and this is just the idiotic minister's strategy to shift some of the current ANC failures to Mbeki's regime.

Turning of the worms is all the rage just now. And yes it is always a useful bit of cheap rhetoric to deflect attention from our current range of governmental disasters. Khalsa you are spot on.

And, yes Alastair, we must avoid being deflected by that rhetoric and keep our collective eye upon the tattered football of government. The ball that strikes the back of the net in so many absurd own-goals!

HIV-Aids is still 100% incurable and 100% fatal -- despite very effective ARV drugs which, when all the hoopla is said and done, only defer the inevitable.

"Pointing fingers at Mbeki - or anyone else - won't save any of the one thousand South Africans who die EVERY DAY from Aids related causes." It won't save the people who are dying every day, however is no one ever going to be held accountable for their actions? What business did Thabo Mbeki have sprouting his nonsense about HIV/AIDS? What was his expertise in medicine again? If we don't hold our leaders accountable for what they do and say what stops them from doing worse?

It is all very well to admit that the death toll has doubled, but this is still not a true reflection of the crisis as most Aids related deaths are not certified on the death certificate as such. But , rather as the infliction such as Tb, or pnuemonia....so there is a massive distortion of the facts.
The ststistics from some of the clinins in rural areas are showing a 70% positive in hiv in all tests.

It is the journalist who is making comments about Mbeki's stance on HIV/AIDS and not the minister. In his own words (not what the journalist says he meant) he takes responsibility and ownership of the problem, he is not pointing fingers, hence he says "had we'd done things diffrently" & "our attitude"..... To me this is just a normal process of evaluating what has been done in order to plan a way forward. I'm hearing a person who knows that what really matters is what needs to happen as from today onwards and that is what all of us should be concerned with really, change of attitude & behaviour and that starts with "the man in the mirror."

It is nausiating to hea the likes of the minister of Health apportioning blame on government programmes for individual failures. It is known the world over that HIV is sexaully transmited. 8 out 10 people who contract HIV engage in unprotected sex. Condoms have been made available for free the last 12yrs. A lot of people ignore them - I remember this man who said he cannot use condoms because he does no feel like a man if he use them. Now who is to blame here?
That people will die or are dying and the fact that many a familiy has experieneced this kind of death should have been enough motivation to test (lovelife has been trying so hard for the last 10years to raise awareness on the effect of unproteced sex). People must take responsibilty fro their sexual behaviour without waiting fro instruction from the likes of minister Motsoaledi. Remember he is good at apportioning blame - he is the who destroyed subsistence farming in Limpopo and people are suprised when Sekhukhune is beset with high levels of malnutrition and related child deaths; and furthermore he closed all teacher training colleges and now you get suprised if the learner teacher ratio is over 1:60. All this were said and done with a lot of fanfare and praises of foesight. What will be different from the honourable Minister. His track record is littered with halfbaked ideas distruction of models that worked under trying circumstances!
The long and short of this input is HIV/AIDS is 98% the RESPONSIBILITY OF INDIVIDUALS!!!! No amount blame apportioning will replace this.

It is the journalist that is making comments about Mbeki's stance on HIV/AIDS and not the minister. To me he sounds like someone who is taking responsibility and ownership of the problem rather than pointing fingers hence he uses words such as "had we done things differently......" and "our attitude". It is normal for someone who look back and evaluate when they are trying to figure out a way forward. In fact the comments here are doing just, the blame game, what we should be debating or asking the minister is his what he plans to do differently, we should be asking him as to where are we with targets on NSP 2007-2011. And while on that our attitude and behaviour will also have to change. anyway there's no minister or policy that can get out us of this crisis, it is only us and our way of thinking.

Unfortunately it's not going to work for the ANC to pin everything on Mbeki...we has executing party mandate & not once did the ANC object to this at the time. only after he's no longer in power do they start to say these things & claim this is why they recalled him...I like Motsoaledi so far he's realistic & also like his aproach towrds this whole NHI thing as well.

What about Manto? She was elected 80th on the NEC list. Man, I remember all the times I was called a racist for calling her a mass murderer.

Sinu, you are wrong.
You are still a racist.

Nowhere in this article does the minister blame Mbeki or Manto.
People read and then see what they want to see.

Moxster, you are wrong - please read the follow up article which clearly states: "Motsoaledi pinned the blame for the current scale of the pandemic squarely on the denialist health policies pursued by former president Thabo Mbeki's government."

A little objectivity goes a long way, Moxster. Why don't you get some and stop being a slave to the ANC. Like everything in live they have good and bad traits and I urge you to acknowledge that.

Moxster: I thought you would have learnt your lesson by now, throwing the race card around.

ConCitizen, then please read your comment again.
There is a difference between blaming Mbeki (directly) and blaming Mbeki's government. Two totally different entitities indeed. The two had totally different viewpoints on HIV/AIDS.

Sinu, please try and go and tire somebody else ...

Moxster: Why? You are here now.