victory for TAC in trespass case
Posted 14 December 2006

Forty-four Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) activists, including chairperson Zackie Achmat, held an impromptu celebration outside the Cape Town magistrate's court after the charges against them were dropped on Monday. Chanting and singing, the activists said they were happy with the outcome after Magistrate S Norman withdrew trespass charges.

They were arrested in August after they occupied the offices of the Western Cape provincial government. The activists were calling for the head of Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang and for a national crisis meeting to develop a new HIV and Aids programme.

'Fighting for human rights should not be a crime' The protest was deliberately illegal after the TAC claimed it was tired of the government's failure to act on HIV and Aids. Police used pepper spray on some of the activists who tried to force their way to Health MEC Pierre Uys's office.

Achmat said they were happy with the outcome. "Fighting for human rights should not be a crime," he said.

However, the struggle is not over as the TAC and the Aids Law Project (ALP) meet with the department of correctional services on Wednesday over the thorny issue of providing anti-retrovirals (ARV) to inmates who need them. The TAC and government have been at loggerheads since the KwaZulu-Natal High Court compelled the department to provide ARVs to HIV infected inmates at Durban Westville Prison. The government enraged the TAC when it appealed.

'Anything less will not be acceptable' Achmat said they hoped for a detailed plan for every prison in the country from Correctional Services. "Anything less will not be acceptable," he said.

He said the organisation supported Deputy Health Minister Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge's statements critical of the President Thabo Mbeki and Tshabalala-Msimang for causing confusion over Aids and treatment.

Madlala-Routledge criticised those who encouraged traditional medicines as opposed to conventional treatment. Achmat said more research on traditional medicines was needed before they were punted as cures. Achmat said he hoped Madlala-Routledge would not be censured or victimised for being outspoken.

He said since Tshabalala-Msimang went on sick leave and Madlala-Routledge took over, the messages coming from government on Aids had been encouraging.

"It is time we put the conflict and confusion of the last eight years behind us and we think the deputy minister represents that new beginning," he said.

Vusumuzi ka Nzapheza, legalnet.co.za