December - AIDS Consortium

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December 2006
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MASIHLANGANE
Sawubona!
Khotso!
Molo!
Dumela!
Thobela!
Highlights in this issue
4
8
9
r
Women
HIV and the Aged
Living Positive
Contents
2
AC team
2
Editor’s note
4
One in Nine Campaign
5
Civil Society Congress
7
AC goes from strength to
strength
8
AC gets people talking
9
A story to tell
10
Cabanga – crossword
11
Announcements
Contributors
Letter from the Executive Director
Dear Affiliate
I joined The AIDS Consortium in April 2006 and have immersed
myself fully in a journey of excitement, challenge, pioneering and
elation! The best part of it all is that YOU have been at the centre of it
each and every day, even if you did not know that! We, as a team,
are presented with a wonderful window of opportunity right now, with
a new spirit of unity never before experienced in South Africa, in the
history of the AIDS epidemic. ALL players, including government, are
ready to work together. NOW, we can really make a difference and
overcome this challenge! So, never before has your presence on the
bus been more critical, so buckle up!
My motivation for joining The AIDS Consortium was driven by a strong and unequalled conviction that
the community-based model of The AC is the magic key to overcoming the indomitable challenge of
the South African HIV/AIDS pandemic. It is only in sustaining, mobilising and capacitating our
comrades in every community, that the challenge can be overcome. It is not about what the staff of
The AC can do for SA; the miracle lies within the extent to which we can lead, facilitate, partner and
mobilise our widespread team of affiliates which will liberate South Africa from this new struggle. YOU
are the key!
Since my arrival then, I have thus set about:
Editor: Rhulani Lehloka (Communication and
Resources Manager)
Design & Layout: Adambele Design
Print: Paarl Print
Photography: Salvador Sitoe and pictures
from AC archives
Contact details
Tel: +27 (0) 11 403 0265
Fax: +27 (0) 11 403 2106
Email: info@aidsconsortim.org.za
Web: www.aidsconsortium.org.za
Physical Address:
185 Smit Street (Cnr. Biccard)
Auckland House
4th Floor, East Wing
Braamfontein, Johannesburg
South Africa
Postal Address:
PO Box 31104
Braamfontein
2017
The AIDS Consortium
Section 21 Company, registration
2000/017522/08
VAT No: 4710213705
d Reviewing and finalising a strategic process that was underway; we confirmed our vision, mission
and objectives and then mapped the journey to our destination with sound programme definition.
d Nurturing and developing the right team; this meant inclusion of some new team members to take
turns behind the wheel.
d Getting to know affiliates; YOU are the heartbeat of the community, so we need your guidance.
d Sustaining The AIDS Consortium with strengthened relationships with existing funding partners and
sourcing new potential partners.
d Partnering with every component of society; all sectors and players are needed in this struggle, so
let’s work together!
Despite some turbulence in the past, we were fortunate to have excellent governance systems in place;
so much of our work was to build upon an already sound foundation, with a strong Board in place.
Affiliate committees and sub-committees were revived with new members and the terms of reference
were redesigned to our current needs:
d The Affiliate Development Committee was re-launched as Zonkizizwe
d The Affiliate Working Group was re-launched as Imvulamehlo
d The Affiliate Action Group was re-launched as Fharanani
All three committees are working well now; the terrain remains bumpy though, many drivers are
needed, so don’t hesitate to join us!
We have visited in excess of 134 affiliates in their communities in the last two months, sharing
resources and expertise and doing needs assessments. Please call us to ensure that your membership
is up to date, so that we can issue your membership card and ensure your are on the bus.
Thank you for your years of support; we look forward to an exciting journey as we turn 15 next year.
Please know that the team, albeit a largely new one, are committed to you as our vehicle of change!
Aluta Continua!
Denise
1 – MASIHLANGANE
Meet the AC team
Since the last issue of Masihlangane, a lot has happened at the AC. We have since lost some team members and have
appointed some new ones. With this, we would like to bid farewell to Lele and Suzie and our volunteers Lucy, Lee,
Mathapelo, Lesego, Neo and Lerato, you guys rocked, we love you and thank you for all your assistance, stay as sweet as
you are!
Denise Hunt
Executive Director
Spunky and full of life! She is
responsible for organisational
development, donor management,
organisational finances, team
development, relationship
building, community engagement and HR
management. She has extensive experience in the
HIV/AIDS field.
Rhulani Lehloka
Communication and Resources
Manager
Go-getter and always ready for
action, she’s responsible for the
organisation’s brand and image.
Has a good media background,
strong networks in the health sector and
passionate about community and youth
development.
Genevieve de Wet
Secretariat and Operations Admin
Calm, collected and ready to help,
she’s got extensive experience
with community work and is
passionate about developing rural
communities. Experienced training
facilitator and good with logistics.
Nokuthula Mfaku
Training Manager
A team player; has the superb
ability of putting everyone in a
training at ease! Nokuthula has
extensive experience in Social
work, training, content
development, design & training methodology. She
displays unequalled passion for community and
youth development. Great HIV/AIDS expertise and
skill.
Martha Legong
Librarian
Librarianship and database
background. Knowledge and
experience of the field of library
and information science. Great
interest and ongoing career
development in the field of social sciences and
HIV/AIDS. With her, you’re sure to always get a
smile!
Dimpho Maruping
Frontline Coordinator
Excellent youth sector experience,
facilitation and training skills. She
also has human relations and
database skills combined with a
love of people.
Phindi Malaza
Affiliates Information Officer
Long term team member, first
class knowledge on HIV and AIDS
and vast related issues, she’s
very good at identifying local
community issues/needs and
challenges; represents AC on various committees
and operates a local PWA support group.
Bongani Sithole
Distribution and Cyber Café Officer
Distribution and merchandise
experience, logistics background,
community orientation and
growing diversity of skills and
abilities.
Sipho Luthuli
Logistics Coordinator
Impressive experience in youth
and community based
organisations and groups, with
good training delivery at facilitation
level. Pays attention to detail to
ensure smooth running of trainings and events.
Lize Denner
Librarian
Academic excellence in
information science – Masters in
Information Management. Sound
Database and website expertise.
Responsible, with counterpart, for
the oldest HIV/AIDS archive library in the sector
and information dissemination to affiliates.
Gerard Payne
Affiliates Coordinator
Extensive experience in HIV AIDS
and youth, deeply passionate
about community development and
empowerment. Well versed in
community franchising and
programme management.
Roy Naidoo
Finance Manager
Loyal long term member of The
AC, displaying vision on
integration of financial and
management obligations.
Meticulous and methodical, ANC
Youth League background, avid sports coach and
player, guiding the team with accuracy and sound
financial practices.
A word from the editor
The fight against HIV/AIDS continues. Of
particular interest in the past few months to
The AIDS Consortium has been women.
Intentionally, because of women’s month, but
also because women’s issues feature
prominently when addressing various issues
around the HIV/AIDS epidemic. In the past few
months, The AIDS Consortium took part in a
lot of activities, in the form of picketing
protests, the Civil Society Congress,
workshops and monthly meetings. In all of
these events, women’s issues were highlighted
as a critical component of our response to the
HIV/AIDS pandemic.
In this issue, we also feature a key component
of the pandemic and ask your opinion on it –
the issue of stigma and discrimination and the
role of government and civil society to
overcome it as wel as our community’s role is
in trying to eradicate this. See Tian’s story.
We have added a bit of fun in this issue,
please check out Cabanga (Zulu word for
think), our new brain stimulation section and
see if you can meet the challenge! You stand a
chance to win an AIDS Consortium bag.
Enjoy the reading and please write to us about
your comments.
I look forward to more exciting issues of
Masihlangane!
Until we meet again,
Rhulani
MASIHLANGANE – 2
ne in Nine Campaign
he One in Nine campaign was established by seven women’s
rights and AIDS organisations in February 2006 to demonstrate
support for Khwezi*, the woman who laid a charge of rape
against Mr. Jacob Zuma. The Campaign is so named because
only ONE in every NINE women who are raped actually reports
that rape. Women who report rape need our support.
T
On the 2nd of October this year, The AIDS Consortium participated in a
picket outside the Johannesburg High Court. This day marked a year
since Buyisiwe* (another rape victim) was raped and she was yet to give
evidence in court. Buyisiwe was raped by eight men on 2 October 2005.
She laid a charge and underwent medico-legal examinations. On the
12th of June 2006, the matter was struck off the roll in the Thembisa
Regional court due to evidence being ‘missing’ and consequently the
accused persons were released. The missing documents included the
complainant’s statement and the transcripts of the bail application
hearing. Whilst the accused are free, Buyisiwe has been forced to take
refuge in a place of safety because of intimidation, threats and the risk of
further violence.
The picket was to demonstrate the frustration and anger towards our
justice system on the manner with which this case was handled and to
ask for answers with regards to the security of women in our justice
system.
Since then, all the evidence - including the forensic evidence has been
found. Buyisiwe’s case has been reinstated on the court roll. The alleged
rapists have been issued with summonses for the court date but have not
been arrested. The matter will be heard in the Kempton Park Magistrates
Court on the 29 November 2006. We are thrilled at this outcome and
hope that justice will be done.
*not her real name
More about the campaign
Campaign Partners
A Working Group was established and is responsible for
the work of coordinating and implementing the
Campaign and consisting
of founding members.
Some facts about
d People Opposing Women
Abuse [POWA]
d The AIDS Consortium
d Gender AIDS Forum [GAF]
d Positive Women’s Network
d Forum for the Empowerment of
Women
d Gender Links
d Men as Partners
Campaign Symbol
The purple ribbon
sexual violence in
South Africa
Sexual violence has been described as
endemic to South Africa.
Police reported an increase of 4% in
rape statistics in 2005.
Less than one in nine cases of rape of
reported.
Only 7% of these cases are
successfully prosecuted.
Source: www.oneinnine.org.za
MASIHLANGANE – 4
National Civil Society
HIV/AIDS Congress
Building Solidarity, an action plan to save lives!
s appointed Health Sector
representatives of SANGOCO The AIDS
Consortium was a key partner of the
Coalition Task team, which organised a
Civil Society Congress, which called for
solidarity and an action plan to save lives!
On October 27th and 28th 2006, 350 delegates
from civil society met to discuss and assess the
national response to HIV prevention and treatment,
to devise our own programmes and to share
knowledge and experiences. The Congress took
place at a critically important time, as government
leads the process to review the South African
A
5 – MASIHLANGANE
National AIDS Council (SANAC) and develop a
new National Strategic plan on HIV and AIDS
(2007-2011).
Importantly, the Congress heard presentations
from the Deputy Minister of Health, Nozizwe
Madlala-Routledge, and the Deputy President,
Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka. They affirmed that we
must end the cycle of death, illness and new
infection. They also called for the need for unity to
overcome the HIV crisis in our country and end the
800 and more AIDS-related deaths that take place
daily.
Both leaders made an unambiguous commitment
to a genuine partnership to scaling up HIV
prevention, treatment, care and support.
Government committed to bold and realistic
targets. This seems to be further evidence of a
growing will and new commitment by our
government to tackle the crisis of HIV and end a
long period of conflict, confusion and denial.
The Congress believes that the next months will be
the real test of this commitment, as the detail of
programmes and targets are finalised. A new
Strategic Plan that is clear, bold, has targets and
programmes is what the country needs most of
all. In addition, the new commitment will be
measured against the willingness of government
to renew the South African National AIDS Council
(SANAC) so that it is independent, led at the
highest level and capacitated to play a key role in
overseeing the implementation of the overall
national response to HIV and AIDS.
Another test will be the willingness of government
to lead the country in a visible and determined
campaign to stop all forms of violence and abuse
against women, girls and children.
The civil society congress believes that one million
lives can be saved in 2007 if HIV prevention and
treatment is effectively implemented. Targets for
next year must reflect this.
All Congress participants were in agreement on the
urgency of addressing the wide range of
challenges in a comprehensive manner.
Participants acknowledged the importance of
cooperation amongst all organisations of civil
society and the responsibility of government to
support civil society programmes.
The Congress broke into
six Commissions dealing
with:
The recommendations and resolutions of these
Commissions were discussed by Congress as a
whole. Clear targets for civil society organisations
that are part of this process were set with a
commitment to accountability. Similarly, clear
targets for government and business are required.
d HIV prevention
d Children and HIV
d Women and HIV
d Access to anti-retroviral
treatment
d Social Support for HIV Prevention
and Treatment
d Partnership and Governance.
All resolutions are available on
www.aidsconsortium.org.za.
The congress was hailed as a watershed event
marking a dramatic change in government’s
outlook in dealing with the treatment of HIV and
AIDS, and a turning point for civil society. The
hope is that the congress heralds a new dawn for
HIV prevention, treatment and care in South Africa
and takes us into a period of genuine
collaboration and partnership. The time has come
for us all to be tested and evaluated by our own
ability to implement the bold programmes that
were agreed upon.
MASIHLANGANE – 6
The AC Goes from
Strength to Strength
Gauteng
AC helps PIONEER
Multisectoral AIDS
support the
Unit and îledeFrance
community
he Gauteng Multisectoral AIDS
Unit, in partnership with
îledeFrance, are funding The
AIDS Consortium to run
Capacity Building Training with
60 Community Based Organisations.
The trainings commenced in November
2006 and will run through to March
2007. The training covers Strategic
planning, Project management,
Administration, Resource mobilisation,
Governance, Financial management,
basic HIV/AIDS and computer literacy.
The models are experientially based
interactions, with all participants given
the opportunity to experiment with their
new-found skills during a small recess.
This training aims to empower NGOs
who are engaged in AIDS work to
deliver quality services to people
infected and affected by HIV/AIDS and to
sustain themselves.
With these funds, The AIDS Consortium
will also do an evaluation of this and
the first two phases of the Capacity
Building Training conducted late last
year and earlier this year, also funded
by the two donors.
As part of their HIV/AIDS workplace
project, Pioneer allocated EU funds to
The AIDS consortium to run World AIDS
Day events in the communities where
their factories are based, namely
Soshanguwe and Etwatwa. The AIDS
Consortium ran HIV/AIDS related
workshops for these communities over
the past two years and will continue to
develop these relationships over 2007.
T
7 – MASIHLANGANE
The AC gets people
talking
n the past few months, our monthly
meeting themes have covered a lot of
topics, some of which were; women,
culture, youth, and the elderly. All of these
topics were of course addressing the
impact that HIV has on these various topics. In
all of them, women were a glaring factor
because they are at a higher risk of contracting
the HI virus and that all of these topics affect
women in different ways. Throughout the past
months, The AIDS Consortium has been
encouraging women to speak up and to involve
themselves in activities that will feed into
decision making processes of this country,
because women bear the brunt of the epidemic
and are working so hard in their communities,
but whilst busy doing that, their voices are not
heard because they are not represented at the
right forums.
I
A memorable monthly meeting over the last few
months was the one where the discussion was
held around HIV and its impact on the elderly.
Some of the issues that came out of this
meeting were:
d The elderly need emotional support.
d They need basic information on HIV/AIDS that
will be delivered to them at their own level.
d They need to protect themselves as they have
also become vulnerable to the disease through
caring for their adult children who have full blown
AIDS.
d They need financial support as they end up
caring for their grandchildren, whose parents
have died from the disease.
People formed groups and were tasked to
recommend possible solutions and ideas on
creative ways of informing the elderly or putting
the systems in place to cater for the needs that
have been highlighted.
The monthly meeting on Culture and HIV
Prevention was too hot to handle!
Minutes of all meetings are available at The AIDS
Consortium office and on our website.
MASIHLANGANE – 8
A story to tell
eet Tian Johnson, whose life was
disrupted at the age of 18 when he
was raped by a group of guys. Tian
experiences discrimination, not only
because he’s gay, but also because
he is HIV positive. The officer who took down
Tian’s statement at the police station was the first
of many to fail him, followed by the doctor who
told him he could not access Post-exposure
Prophylaxis (the preventative drug given to rape
victims and when occupational accidents occur)
because he was not a woman, and therefore
could not be classified as a rape victim! This
highlights the stereotyping in our society as well
as the long overdue need for the Sexual Offences
Bill to be passed – now imminent after years of
delays! Meanwhile, the system continues to drive
discrimination and perpetuate stereotypes through
classifications which prevent fair and just
treatment which ensures human dignity for all.
M
Having begun community work at an early age,
Tian knew what to expect once diagnosed due to
experience he had gained as a lay counsellor. He
disclosed to his partner, but not to people with
whom he was working. That, he only did early
this year on a TV show “Walala Wasala”. The
reason why he chose to do it this way was
because he wanted to “break the silence”, and it
was clear that this show would help do this
publicly by putting a
face to ‘male on male’
rape - currently a
topical debate. Tian
sees his purpose in life
as “to give people a
voice at any cost” he
says. “It is my passion
to see people speak
out and challenge
issues and if I can be
instrumental in doing this, so be it!” he adds.
What about stigma and discrimination
in the community?
Tian testifies that stigmatisation against gay
people is still a huge challenge in our
communities - although his family understands
and supports him, there are those people who
think he ‘can be fixed’, either through church or
medication. “The people in the community will
either love you to bits, or they will despise you so
much that they spit when they see you”.
On the other hand, Tian is concerned by the image
that some gay people portray to the public and
highlights the importance of engaging in
responsible behaviour that fights misconceptions.
Sexual behaviour is a concern for Tian because he
says when some of the people found out that he
was HIV positive, they just
brushed it off lightly saying “it’s
okay if I get AIDS from you, I love
you mos!” This was based on the
misconception that despite
communication campaigns
people still believe that if you do
not look thin and sickly that you
are healthy. Choosing to have
unprotected sex with a person
who is HIV positive is a life
threatening decision. Unprotected
sex between HIV positive
individuals puts them at risk of
re-infection, which means that the
immune system weakens quicker
and fast tracks the onset of AIDS.
Six and a half years later, Tian is
at the point where his immune
system is failing. Healthy food
and positive thinking is no longer
sufficient. There is indication that
he now needs to go on treatment
and although he is aware of this,
9 – MASIHLANGANE
he resists treatment, because he feels he needs to
be in the right space mentally. He also feels that
he needs to strengthen his support structures
emotionally, and career wise. In addition to this,
he cites concerns around side effects of treatment
that he has seen through his clients’ experience,
as a deterrent to embarking on treatment.
If you have experiences
to share, please send an
email to
info@aidsconsortium.org.za
with the title,
“Masihlangane, a story
to tell” or send it to us
via post at
PO Box 31104,
Braamfontein, 2017
Cabanga
The first two correct crosswords drawn will each win an AIDS Consortium bag. To
enter, complete the crossword, cut it out and post it to us with your name,
organisation’s name, your phone number and address to Masihlangane/Cabanga,
PO Box 31104, Braamfontein, 2017. Entries to reach us by 31 January 2007.
There is a clue to help you along!
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Name:
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Organisation:
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Phone no:
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Address:
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Infections / Diseases that the body would normally fight (13)
M in PMTCT (6)
Abbrevation for people living with HIV/AIDS (5)
Gender affected most by HIV/AIDS (5)
Continent with the highest HIV/AIDS infection rate (6)
Colour associated with cells that are destroyed by the HI virus (5)
C in VCT (11)
The R and V in ARV (10)
Counselling before HIV testing (3)
How a mother can pass the HI virus to her child (13)
CD4 cells by another name (6,1)
Female and male of these are available for HIV prevention (7)
The I in HIV (16)
Abbreviation of community based organisation (3)
Sex at an early age results in a ________ of the viganal wall (4)
Main mode of HIV transmission in South Africa (12)
Results of this test is available in 15-30 minutes (5)
The A in AIDS (8)
Period in which HIV test results can be negative (6)
A test that look for anti-bodies in the bloodstream (5)
A body fluid that carries the HI virus (5)
A PCR test is what type of test (detects level of virus in the blood) (5,4)
Abbreviation for the treatment given to rape survivors (3)
MASIHLANGANE – 10
Key Dates and
Announcements
Key Dates
Announcements
AIDS Consortium
Workshops
25 November –
The AIDS CONSORTIUM
10 December
Monthly Affiliates
16 Days of Activism on
Meetings:
Foundation for
No Violence against
30 January 2007
Human Rights
women
27 February 2007
workshops
27 March 2007
01 December
24 April 2007
World AIDS Day
Board Meetings
05 December
01 February 2007
International Volunteers
26 April 2007
Day
Annual General Meeting
12 December -
29 May 2007
International Day
against Child Trafficking
The AIDS Consortium will
be closed from
15 December 2006 and
will reopen on
03 January 2007
05 December
Workshop at
Ikhaya Lethemba
Women’s shelter
08 December
Women’s workshop
at AC offices
11 December
Men’s Workshop at
AC offices