ANC Today 

----------------------------------------------------------------------
 
Volume 5, No. 14, 8-14 April 2005 

----------------------------------------------------------------------
 
THIS WEEK:

* Letter from the President: Remember Mahlangu: say no to the parasites! 
* Nutrition and AIDS: Good nutrition essential to a comprehensive response to
AIDS 
* Sudan: Renewed possibilities and hope in long walk to peace 

----------------------------------------------------------------------

LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT

Remember Mahlangu: say no to the parasites!

Two days before the publication of this edition of ANC TODAY, on 6 April, the
media published horrifying stories of massive fraud. One newspaper led with the
headline "Billions 'stolen' from the poor". The front page story was sub-titled
"37 000 civil servants fingered in grant scam, 'major arrests imminent'."

On the same day, 6 April, we observed the 26th anniversary of the execution of
the outstanding young patriot, Solomon Kalushi Mahlangu, who was hanged in
Pretoria Central Prison in 1979. As far as we can determine, most of the media
did not comment on this anniversary, which was and is being marked by our
movement in various public activities, under the leadership of the ANC Youth
League.

The media story was based on comments made by our Minister of Social
Development, Zola Skweyiya, when he spoke in Parliament on 5 April, during the
debate of his departmental Budget Vote. What he said fully justified the
prominence the media gave to the story of the "grant scam".

Reflecting on the tasks of his Ministry and Department, he said, among other
things: "All our efforts are geared towards ensuring that we care for all our
people and restore dignity to them. That is why in 2000, we presented to this
house the norms and standards for social assistance social delivery... I am
pleased to announce that in a number of areas we have improved the capacity of
the grants system to ensure that the right person receives the right grant
amount, in a manner that respects their dignity...Budget Vote 18 of the
Department of Social Development is an indication that the democratic state will
not walk away from its obligations to come to the aid of poor and vulnerable
people in our country."

Earlier in his address, he said: "As announced by the President in the State of
the Nation Address, over nine million South Africans receive social grants, thus
ensuring direct income support and social protection to millions who otherwise
would have continued to be marginalised. The vast majority of the beneficiaries
of social grants are children. Numerous research studies have confirmed the
poverty alleviation impact of these measures."

Correctly, during the year of the 50th Anniversary of the Freedom Charter, he
drew attention to the direct relevance of the objectives contained in the
Charter to the work of the Ministry and Department of Social Development. In
this regard he said: "Eleven years after the inauguration of our democratic
dispensation, we have achieved much in ensuring that the fundamental principles
set out in the Freedom Charter become a reality for our people. To achieve this
goal, in particular the provision of 'security and comfort for all', my
Department followed a path that sought to ensure the provision of comprehensive
social protection services against vulnerability and poverty to as many
deserving people as possible."

With all this serving as a backdrop, he then drew attention to the terrible
story subsequently reported by the media on 6 April, Solomon Mahlangu Day. He
said:

"The integrity of our grants administration system is a critical success factor.
As a step in improving this integrity, in December 2004, government offered
indemnity to all those illegally accessing social grants. Over 30,000 people
have used the opportunity and have come forward to request that we stop the
payment of grants that they are not eligible for. If all the current
applications are granted, it will translate into a savings of no less than R12
million per month and over R446 million over the MTEF [Medium Term Expenditure
Framework] period. Savings to this tune could result in an additional 66,000
children receiving the Child Support Grant per month.

"I have to emphasise that we are not satisfied with the results of the campaign.
More people should have come forward. For those people who have not heeded the
call to voluntarily come forward, we will now be enforcing the law. We are
currently doing this with the public servants and syndicates behind much of the
fraud...

"The government's resolve to uproot all the fraud and corruption in our
programme of social assistance is unwavering. Already we have the names of over
37,000 people who are being or will be investigated. In addition to
investigations into current fraudulent activities, we will continue to enhance
our fraud prevention and detection capacities by deploying the necessary
expertise."

The figures mentioned by Minister Skweyiya concerning those who have applied to
be removed from the lists of those receiving grants, as well as those being
investigated with a view to possible prosecution, paint an extremely worrying
picture of anti-people practices that we must root out.

Consistent with the very essence of the character of our movement, Zola Skweyiya
pointed to the people-centred objectives of our social development policies,
which include the system of social welfare grants.

He was therefore correct to draw attention to such objectives as "car(ing) for
all our people and restor(ing) dignity to them", honouring our "obligations to
come to the aid of poor and vulnerable people in our country" through the
"provision of comprehensive social protection services against vulnerability and
poverty to as many deserving people as possible", thus providing "protection to
millions who otherwise would have continued to be marginalised."

All of us are very familiar with the endemic poverty that continues to afflict
millions of our people. We know what the colonial and apartheid systems did
deliberately to impoverish the masses of the black people to create the best
possible conditions for the enrichment of the white minority.

That process began with the land dispossession of the Khoi people, which started
a mere few years after the Dutch settlers under the leadership of Jan van
Riebeeck, arrived at the Cape Peninsula on 6 April 1652. It should therefore
come as no surprise that 11 years after our liberation, we are still faced with
the grave crisis of entrenched poverty that affects many of our people.

The system of white minority rule constituted systematic denial of the dignity
of the black people. Outraged, in the end, the world community categorised and
denounced white minority domination in our country, then expressed through the
apartheid system, as a crime against humanity.

The denial of the dignity of the black people did not only emanate from the
racism practised by our oppressors and their treatment of the majority as sub-
humans. Their absolute deprivation, imposing on these masses the most desperate
socio-economic conditions, was itself central to the denial of the dignity of
the masses of our people.

Inherently, poverty demeans all those it affects, and diminishes their humanity.
It forces ordinary decent folk to go out into the streets to beg. It forces
proud women to sell their bodies merely to get a meal. It obliges people to rob
and steal and even to kill, just to provide a plate of food for their families.
Poverty constitutes a sustained assault on the dignity that is a fundamental
human right, the inalienable right of every human being.

The victory we scored on 27 April 1994 gave us the possibility to restore the
dignity of all our people. It meant that we would, for all time, end the insult
and crime of white supremacy. It meant that we would now have the possibility to
wage a determined struggle against poverty, secure a better life for all our
people, and restore their dignity.

For this reason, we ensured that we used our First Decade of Liberation to focus
on the central struggle against poverty. This has affected all elements of our
policies and programmes. We have created the basis for us to make even bigger
advances against poverty during our Second Decade of Liberation.

Already our 2002 51st National Conference, held at Stellenbosch University,
resolved that essentially we had laid the policy and legislative basis for the
fundamental social transformation of our country. It resolved that our central
task is to build the capacity practically to achieve the objectives our movement
had set, which had already been translated into law as well as our government's
policies and programmes.

It resolved that implementation should be the key area of focus. This reflected
the determination of our movement rapidly to meet the goals contained in our
programme for reconstruction and development, including the eradication of
poverty.

Everything we have said points to the seriousness with which we must respond to
the information released by Minister Zola Skweyiya. Those responsible for the
theft of grants meant to help restore the dignity of millions of our people,
including children, stand guilty of a heinous crime against the people. What
they are doing constitutes a serious challenge to the goals of achieving a
better life for all and building a humane society.

Their activities reflect a social cancer that affects all societies, including
ours. In our situation, it is clear that there are some people who are
determined to continue the corrupt practices that were a feature of the
apartheid system, to enrich themselves at the expense of the people.

It is also clear that there are others who believe that our liberation and the
establishment of the democratic order have opened the doors for them similarly
to engage in corrupt practices, again to enrich themselves at the expense of the
people. In particular, some of these are quite ready to abuse their positions of
authority within the state machinery to achieve their criminal objectives, which
are opposed to the advancement of the most sacred interests of the people.

In this regard we must state the matter firmly that these are parasites who are
waging a war against the people. It is the task of all our members and
supporters and all the structures of our movement to declare war against these
parasites.

This means that through our practical actions, we must make the clear statement
that we have joined the war against the parasites, and that to be a member of
Congress means to be a militant fighter against corruption and the theft of the
people's wealth and hopes. Among other things, this imposes an immediate
obligation on all of us actively to assist the Minister of Social Development,
Comrade Zola Skweyiya, to unearth and defeat the parasites that are robbing the
poor of their social grants.

Solomon Kalushi Mahlangu was only 23 years old when the apartheid hangman took
his life. Drawn into struggle by the 16 June 1976 student uprising, he
ultimately went into exile to join Umkhonto we Sizwe. He returned to the country
as an armed combatant. Forced to fight when he and his comrades were
unexpectedly confronted by hostile forces, he was wounded and captured.

Despite his youth, he refused to break under torture. Throughout his trial and
the period of his imprisonment as the apartheid courts refused him leave to
appeal against his death sentence, he was not cowed. As the hangman's noose was
about to encircle his youthful neck, he shouted - Amandla!

His last words to his mother, Martha Mahlangu, an ordinary working woman, the
words that have lived long after him, were: "My blood will nourish the tree that
will bear the fruits of freedom. Tell my people that I love them. They must
continue the fight."

In its statement condemning his execution, the ANC said: "Comrade Solomon
Mahlangu, a young hero of the South African revolutionary struggle, a survivor
of the Soweto and other massacres perpetrated throughout the country by the
fascist regime in 1976, a dedicated opponent of racism, apartheid and colonial
domination, was hanged in Pretoria at 6 a.m. on Friday, April 6th, 1979. Solomon
Mahlangu's only crime was his deep love for his people, his commitment and
dedication to the noble ideal of freedom, human dignity and happiness of the
people."

As the Youth League, our movement and people marked the 26th anniversary of the
political murder of this young hero of the South African revolutionary struggle,
a father of our democracy despite his youth, the media carried prominent reports
of acts of theft and fraud committed against the people whom Solomon Mahlangu
loved, for whose human dignity and happiness he sacrificed his life, with no
expectation of personal reward.

We must work to ensure that the spirit of Solomon Mahlangu continues to define
the morality of the cadres and members of our movement. Inspired by that noble
spirit, they must occupy the forward trenches in the struggle against the
parasites about whom Zola Skweyiya spoke, and others who abuse our freedom to
steal from the poor or corrupt our society. 

Thabo Mbeki

----------------------------------------------------------------------
   
NUTRITION AND AIDS 

Good nutrition essential to a comprehensive response to AIDS

The promotion of healthy lifestyles is central to the ANC's programme of action
because of its integral role in reducing communicable and non-communicable
diseases and high levels of injuries and violence.

As we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Freedom Charter this year, the ANC
has highlighted some of the key areas that the social sector cluster of
government should focus on to ensure we realise one of the critical goals of
that historic document - that there shall be houses, security and comfort.

Government has launched a healthy lifestyle campaign to address some of these
areas. The campaign includes promotion of good nutrition, regular physical
exercise, safe sexual behaviour and interventions aimed at decreasing smoking
and alcohol and substance abuse.

This campaign, according to Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, highlights
the need for a paradigm shift in the way we approach the health of our
population: "We often spend the first part of our lives undermining our own
health through the way we eat, drink, drive and by smoking and engaging in
unsafe sex. We thereafter spend the second part of our lives trying to manage
the negative health consequences of our behaviour through costly and complex
interventions. We cannot continue on this trajectory of destroy and repair,
destroy and repair. We need to make the right choices about our lives right from
the start, as life does not usually give us second chances."

As we intensify the implementation of the healthy lifestyles campaign, the
country will host an international consultative meeting on Nutrition and HIV and
AIDS. This meeting, which takes place in Durban on 10-13 April, brings together
representatives of at least six United Nations agencies and 20 countries from
east and southern Africa.

The meeting is convened because of the general acknowledgement that medical
conditions related to AIDS can lower food intake by reducing appetite and
interfering with the body's ability to absorb food.

The hosting of this meeting is an important development for South Africa, as
this country has been at the forefront in ensuring that issues of food security
in general and good nutrition in particular become an integral part of our
response to diseases including HIV and AIDS.

The progress South Africa has made in emphasising this developmental approach to
health has not been easy. The ANC and government have often been criticised for
highlighting poverty as the underlying factor in the spread of HIV infection and
in worsening the impact of AIDS in our society. The campaign on nutrition as an
important element of our response to HIV and AIDS has been a subject of mockery
by almost every local newspaper cartoonist.

Efforts to encourage people living with HIV to include garlic, ginger, olive oil
and lemon as part of a balanced diet have been misrepresented as "prescribing a
concoction that is harmful to people living with HIV and AIDS".

We had to stand our ground despite a strong lobby against highlighting nutrition
as an important element of our response to HIV and AIDS. Compromise on our
developmental agenda was not an option as these are issues of life and death for
many of our people.

Good nutrition does indeed assist in strengthening the body and ensuring that we
are less vulnerable to diseases. Basic science informs us that garlic has
antibacterial and anti-fungal properties, lemon provides Vitamin C, and olive
oil is a source of Vitamin A and E. All these vitamins are good antioxidants.

Garlic, ginger and lemon are listed among a number of herbal treatments and
remedies in the guidelines published jointly by the Food and Agriculture
Organisation and the World Health Organisation in 2003 as dietary suggestions
for people living with HIV and AIDS.

In these guidelines, entitled "Living well with HIV [and] AIDS", garlic is said
to have antibacterial, antiviral and antifungal functions, particularly in the
gut, intestines, lungs and vagina. It helps against indigestion and feeling of
weakness. It is good for thrush, throat infections, herpes and diarrhoea.

Ginger is said to also improve digestion, energise, relieve diarrhoea and
stimulate appetite. It is also suggested for treating common colds, flu and
nausea. Lemon is listed as an antibacterial and it also improves digestion.

The guidelines also state that this list of herbal treatments and remedies was
compiled using knowledge gleaned from experiences of people living with HIV and
AIDS. Anecdotal evidence suggests that these are experiences of many South
Africans living with HIV and AIDS as well.

The Durban meeting on nutrition and HIV and AIDS provides a platform to share
these experiences, review and disseminate the latest evidence on nutrition as
part of a comprehensive response to HIV and AIDS.

This opportunity should also be used to outline South Africa's approach to
nutrition and why it is necessary to put much emphasis on this intervention as
part of a developmental agenda, health promotion and response to diseases in
general.

The role of nutrition in the promotion of good health in general can no longer
be disputed. The question that remains is how do we as a country respond to our
challenges of poor nutrition? How do we incorporate nutrition as part of our
strategy to create a healthy nation? How do we ensure that our people do not
succumb to diseases much quicker than other well-nourished individuals?

Government has been attending firstly to the issue of food security in the
country. This includes food relief, provision of social support, promotion of
community-based income generating activities and food gardens as well as
creation of employment opportunities.

The Department of Health is of the view that the challenge of poor nutrition is
not only caused by inability to acquire food but also lack of information in
terms of choices that people have to make within their limited resources. The
approach of the department therefore has been to ensure that the food that can
be easily accessed by the majority of the poor is nutritious and people are
informed of the health benefits of certain products.

One of the significant steps taken in this regard was to launch a food
fortification programme. Through government regulations, all millers are now
required to add specified amount of vitamins and minerals to all maize meal and
wheat flour that is produced in this country. Bread and maize meal are the most
frequently consumed foodstuffs in South Africa and these products are therefore
the best vehicle to deliver the required micronutrients to many people who
cannot afford a balanced diet.

Good nutrition does not only promote good health but it is also a critical
component of a comprehensive response to diseases. Good nutrition is not a
substitute for appropriate treatment. It prolongs good health and serves as a
solid foundation that often determines the success of other interventions.

Therefore, as people are given medicines to be taken before, with or after
meals, it is necessary to ensure that people have a nutritious meal to take with
their medication.

Nutrition was included as an important element of the Comprehensive HIV and AIDS
Care, Management and Treatment Plan adopted by Cabinet in November 2003. The
objectives of nutritional therapy within this programme are to: 

* increase macro and micronutrient intake and maintain body weight; 
* improve the functioning of the immune system and the body's ability to fight
infection and therefore delay progression from HIV infection to the development
of AIDS defining conditions; 
* improve response to other medical interventions. 

There is general consensus on micronutrients that are likely to be depleted in
patients with tuberculosis (TB), HIV and AIDS and who do not have adequate food
intake. As part of the comprehensive plan, patients are provided with a
supplementary meal and a multivitamin syrup or tablet in public health
facilities as part of the nutritional care and support package for people with
TB or HIV and AIDS. The number of beneficiaries of this programme was estimated
to be 153,000 by the end of February 2005.

South Africa should look forward to sharing its experiences on integrating
nutrition into the management of HIV and AIDS at this consultative meeting and
should discuss with other participants the challenges in this area, including
the critical issue of infant feeding in the context of HIV and AIDS. This
gathering should assist in developing strategies that are both evidence-based
and feasible to help improve the health status of people living with HIV and
AIDS in East and Southern Africa.

MORE INFORMATION:

'Living well with HIV/AIDS', FAO and WHO 
http://www.fao.org/documents/show_cdr.asp?url_file=/DOCREP/005/Y4168E/Y4168E00.HTM

----------------------------------------------------------------------
   
SUDAN <Viewpoint: Iqbal Jhazbhay>

Renewed possibilities and hope in long walk to peace

Currently, the first draft of Sudan's new history of political transition is in
the making. This is the time of newly re-energised possibilities. A changing
climate is unfolding: from military politics of war embraced by the Government
of Sudan and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM/A), to the embrace of
the politics of dialogue, negotiation and peace.

In Sudan's capital, Khartoum, SPLM leader, James Wani, is leading a delegation
to begin the long and painful reconciliatory journey with the government of
Sudan towards implementing the Comprehensive Peace Agreement. Africans and the
world recently witnessed this peace agreement in the city of Nairobi, Kenya. The
current peace implementation process starts with the interim constitution of
Sudan, which needs to be approved by Sudan's national parliament and the SPLM's
National Liberation Council.

In South Africa's capital, Tshwane, the SPLM leadership and its cadres, led by
the Movement's First Vice-Chairman and SPLA chief of staff, this week met with
South African ministers; representatives of various government departments and
the University of South Africa; local government mayors and the ANC leadership.
This wide range of meetings were part of a programme to exchange ideas on
political transition, constitution making, governance and delivery of basic
needs to the people.

President Thabo Mbeki, speaking on 31 December last year at the signing ceremony
in Nairobi, said the people of Sudan expect the SPLM/A and the government of
Sudan to build schools, clinics, roads, and work for real dialogue among
Sudanese.

This cardinal challenge of delivery of the basic needs to all the people of
Sudan - in the South, West (including Darfur), Central and East of Sudan -was
uppermost in the minds of the cadres of the South Sudanese leadership who
visited South Africa. Equally on their minds and in their hearts was the
challenge of reconciliation, peace and stability.

The SPLM/A leadership is acutely aware of the difficult political environment
for implementation of the peace agreement. They explored, therefore, all
possible options during their meetings in Tshwane, Nelspruit, Johannesburg and
Cape Town, to avoid potential sources of failure to Sudan's emerging peace and
stability. These include the range of militias, factions or leaders, who oppose
peace and use violence to undermine peace; difficult neighbours who assist
spoilers and oppose peace (Sudan has nine neighbouring countries); and poverty,
which make all Sudanese vulnerable to war merchants who peddle commodities like
timber and gems.

With Sudan bordering the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), South Africa's
peace initiatives with the African Union (AU) and the United Nations (UN) in the
Great Lakes area are inter-connected in the consolidated effort to promote the
delicate peace in the Horn of Africa and Great Lakes regions.

In this respect, correctly, a number of important international institutions
have noted that the AU "has been the most proactive international institution in
seeking an end to the conflict". Indeed, this is in large part due to the vision
and determination of the AU's Professor Alpha Konare to consolidate the African-
led agenda. Konare, during his visit to South Africa, made time on Sunday to
meet with the SPLM/A leadership and its cadres, in order to frankly discuss
issues of concern and engage the issues for implementing the peace agreement.

African countries have responded well to Professor Alpha Konare's call for
African troops for the Sudan. South Africa has mobilised police and army
officers to join the AU's Mission in Sudan (AMIS). The European Union and the
USA have provided important logistical and financial support to assist AMIS to
effectively carry out the bulk of its field tasks in Sudan.

In the context of the progress being made towards peace, the timing of the UN
Security Council resolution on Darfur is counter productive. Last week, the UN
Security Council passed a resolution referring the human rights situation in
Darfur to the International Criminal Court (ICC). The list of 51 suspected
persons, which was passed on to the ICC, includes senior Sudanese government and
army officials, some of whom were instrumental in reaching the peace agreement.
The ICC list, included militia and rebel leaders. This is the first time a case
has been referred to the court in The Hague by the UN Security Council.

Currently, the atmosphere in Khartoum is tense and the heat is on the government
of Sudan and the army. Sudanese President al-Bashir is quoted as saying he swore
"thrice in the name of Almighty Allah that I shall never hand any Sudanese
national to a foreign court".

The central question is: in what way, at this critical and delicate juncture of
Sudan's political transition, have the UN Security Council members contributed
to the making of peace and stability in Sudan?

Clearly, SPLM/A leaders are equally under pressure in dealing with this fragile
situation as it begins the implementation of this regionally and internationally
brokered peace agreement.

On a related front, South Africa currently chairs the AU's Ministerial Committee
on Post-Conflict Reconstruction in Sudan. This Committee includes foreign
ministers of Algeria, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal and Sudan.

Recently, South African Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma led the
delegation of African foreign ministers on a tour of Sudan to assess first hand
Sudan's physical, psychological, political and social reconstruction needs.

In the coming days, on 11-12 April, this AU committee will brief its
international partners on Sudan's practical requirements on the occasion, when
Norway will be hosting a Sudan Donor Conference in Oslo. Delegates at the Oslo
conference will surely be grappling with the challenges of delivery of a better
basic life for all Sudanese, seeking to embrace the principle of unity in
diversity throughout Sudan.

The South Sudanese leadership may also be considering the question of national
unity or the secession of South Sudan. Will peaceful co-existence between South
Sudan and North Sudan be possible after the interim 6 years, when a referendum
will be held on self determination? Initial economic indicators suggest that if
the current economic development commitments to South Sudan are made over the
next six years, the South Sudanese will enjoy a yearly income which will be the
highest in East Africa. This debate among African leaders and the masses has
begun.

In this respect, the AU's refreshing initiative to send a fact-finding mission
to look into the issue of Somaliland's case for self-determination in the Horn
of Africa, has given hope to many South Sudanese and peace activists who are
doubtful of the AU's credentials in upholding the principle of self-
determination. Many SPLM/A leaders believe the international community is unable
to uphold the international principle of self-determination and justice, and
have given rhetorical preference to the international principle of territorial
integrity at the expense of the principle of self-determination and justice.

Mercifully, this debate on African continental coherence, unity, secession, the
interests of justice, self-determination and the principle of territorial
integrity has been examined with reasonable depth by African international law
experts and analysts. The interests of world peace and stability require that,
where politically possible, the division of existing states should be managed
peacefully and by negotiation, like the case of Eritrea.

Reaching back to the threads of our earlier discussion, where we have stood for
a new political transition in Sudan, seeking equity for all humanity, good
political governance and collective international action and solidarity, we
cohere, hope, pray and mobilise for an equalising Sudan, where all parts of
Sudan experience peace, stability and prosperity.

Peace activists will be watching closely as all the players in Sudan and the
international community, remain committed to the task of implementing the
security arrangements; monitoring the peace agreements details and; delivering
promptly the promised aid to meet the basic needs of Sudan's people, such as
food, houses, schools, clinics and roads.

Recently, the government of Sudan relinquished the opportunity to host the next
AU Summit, in July 2005. Libya will now host the AU's next Summit.

When Sudan does host the AU Summit it will be another appropriate occasion for
us to write, evaluate, and continue to mobilise, support and learn more about
peace in Sudan within the Horn of Renewed Possibilities and Hope.

** Iqbal Jhazbhay teaches at the University of South Africa and recently edited
a special edition of the journal, African Security Review, on the Horn of
Africa.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

This issue of ANC Today is available from the ANC web site at:
http://www.anc.org.za/ancdocs/anctoday/2005/at14.htm

To receive ANC Today free of charge by e-mail each week go to:
http://www.anc.org.za/ancdocs/anctoday/subscribe.html

To unsubscribe yourself from the ANC Today mailing list go to:
http://lists.anc.org.za/mailman/listinfo/anctoday