Jacob Zuma rides again
South Africa has one of the highest rates of HIV/AIDS in the world and the highest number of deaths from the disease till date. It also has the egregious distinction of having one of the highest rates of rape in the world, not to mention a growing problem with infant/child rape.
The aetiology of this ongoing crisis is multifactorial and much research has looked at specific aspects of the problem.
Thabo Mbeki spent many years denying that HIV had any connection with AIDS , and continues to undermine the efforts of the country's public health community and civil society at periodic intervals. Thankfully, this has been replaced in recent years with a more positive, though often heavily spun take which stops short of acknowledging the magnitude of the AIDS crisis engulfing South Africa, which has often left campaigners in the field shaking their heads in exasperation.
One of the greatest triumphs of civil society in South Africa has been to get the government to first admit that there actually was a problem, then outsmarting Big Pharma to ensure that antiretrovirals could be made available at an affordable price , cutting deals with generics manufacturers from Brazil and India, and thereby setting a sparkling precedent that has lent courage to governments of poor nations beset by HIV/AIDS across the world.
Into this seething cauldron walks Jacob Zuma, a third-rate sleazeball embodying the worst attributes of the venal political class we are all forced to put up with across the world. The problem was, this particular sleazeball used to be the Vice-President of South Africa and the head of the National AIDS council. What does he do to protect himself against HIV? He takes a shower. And proudly proclaims it to a nation battling one of the worst epidemics in living memory. He also believes that if a woman wears a skirt, she is inviting him to have sex with her.
Now that he's been accquitted, Goldenballs intends to run for the presidency, while the victim, a leading AIDS rights campaigner, has to seek refuge under a witness protection programme abroad. The Zulu nation, his electorate and his daughter should be proud.
The aetiology of this ongoing crisis is multifactorial and much research has looked at specific aspects of the problem.
Thabo Mbeki spent many years denying that HIV had any connection with AIDS , and continues to undermine the efforts of the country's public health community and civil society at periodic intervals. Thankfully, this has been replaced in recent years with a more positive, though often heavily spun take which stops short of acknowledging the magnitude of the AIDS crisis engulfing South Africa, which has often left campaigners in the field shaking their heads in exasperation.
One of the greatest triumphs of civil society in South Africa has been to get the government to first admit that there actually was a problem, then outsmarting Big Pharma to ensure that antiretrovirals could be made available at an affordable price , cutting deals with generics manufacturers from Brazil and India, and thereby setting a sparkling precedent that has lent courage to governments of poor nations beset by HIV/AIDS across the world.
Into this seething cauldron walks Jacob Zuma, a third-rate sleazeball embodying the worst attributes of the venal political class we are all forced to put up with across the world. The problem was, this particular sleazeball used to be the Vice-President of South Africa and the head of the National AIDS council. What does he do to protect himself against HIV? He takes a shower. And proudly proclaims it to a nation battling one of the worst epidemics in living memory. He also believes that if a woman wears a skirt, she is inviting him to have sex with her.
Now that he's been accquitted, Goldenballs intends to run for the presidency, while the victim, a leading AIDS rights campaigner, has to seek refuge under a witness protection programme abroad. The Zulu nation, his electorate and his daughter should be proud.
posted by nevermind at 7:50 PM
1 Comments:
A grim reminder of the reality we are all turning a blind eye to, while we bury our heads in the sands, trying to fool ourselves into thinking that it is all happening in a far away distant land, thinking we are too far away from it all to be affected by its exponentially growing horrors.
Here's something related I read a while back:
http://snipurl.com/gl0e
~N.
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