South Africa P.I.G.: HEALTH

Showing posts with label HEALTH. Show all posts

R800m for VIP jets when millions do not have housing, health and basic services

<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGBrcL2yjIyRHLoEPPNHYqnuQlOCg8Ih1biO0OTmi1Gwt7v1z21U17DqMG6Ad2UBBTaFzson84n01QtUbIHSZ-DFeqmAKQ9pVsj_wzdgPr1DQwsNyT0k7Q0DrISzmQPJpIoORMsTh6xJnL/s1600/anc-greed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="216" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGBrcL2yjIyRHLoEPPNHYqnuQlOCg8Ih1biO0OTmi1Gwt7v1z21U17DqMG6Ad2UBBTaFzson84n01QtUbIHSZ-DFeqmAKQ9pVsj_wzdgPr1DQwsNyT0k7Q0DrISzmQPJpIoORMsTh6xJnL/s320/anc-greed.jpg" width="320" /></a>Why are we spending R800m on aircraft for VIPs when millions of people do not have housing, health and basic services?</div> Government VIPs will soon be jetting around the country in two luxury jets complete with sleeping quarters, computer and satellite communication services and a conference cabin with space for six people. The department of defence has leased the jets on a five-year contract to supplement its VIP squadron. According to a report in Beeld newspaper, the contract with AdoAir, a small Lanseria-based company, is worth R808m. The company belongs to the Adonai Group, founded by Nigerian businessman Adegboyega Olulade. AdoAir “came out top” out of five competing tenders, the department spokesperson Ndivhuwo wa ha Mabaya said yesterday. He said an ageing air transport fleet had made it necessary for the South African Air Force to charter flights for VIP air transport, and this had been expensive. Defence Minister Lindiwe Sisulu revealed in December that chartered flights for VIPs spiked from R3.6m in 2009 to R16.9m last year. Mabaya added that the lease agreement also included the maintenance of the luxury jets over the five-year period. He said: “The two jets will be used by the VIP squadron. Our current fleet of VIP planes are very old and we don’t have the money to buy new planes.” These jets will also be used when the presidential jet, Inkwazi, is undergoing maintenance. - City Press Readers comments fandash1 - R808m over 5 years equates to R161,6m per year yet the cost which had spiked was only R16.9m and that over 5 years equates to R84.5m. Maybe the honourable Minister sholuld ask for a refund on her school fees as basic sums (no not maths) were not mastered. What a rip off for the tax payer. 9 1/2 times the cost dear Minister, who gets the rest. SHOCKING EXPENDITURE. Apache - Have I got this right? R808m over 5 years = R161.6m per year, but they only spent R16.9m on chartered flights last year! So we, the taxpayers, will be forking out 10 times more per annum than we have been...no wonder this country is in the mess it is. What clown did the maths on this decision? And yet the masses will again vote for these clowns in the upcoming elections, despite the fact that they still don't have the houses or services they are repeatedly promised. Funny thing that... marc - US$ 115 million? You could get two very exceptional jets, that fulfill the mandate, for a 3rd of that price. ADO AIR is a Nigerian company......Look it doenst take an rocket scientist to work out there is something very, very fishy about this deal. Daylight Robbery! Check out controller.com for jet prices. <div class="fl"><a class="author_link bold" href="http://www.blogger.com/" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Benzo</a> -  <div class="clr"></div>Why sleeping facilities for "flying around the country"? How many conferences with not more than 6 people? Why computers? We all have our own laptops with our own data and software on hand!!</div><div class="fl"><a class="author_link bold" href="http://www.blogger.com/" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Bill Xhosa</a> -  </div><div class="clr"></div><div class="comment_text">She either wants a piece of the action or doesn't have good people to guarantee return on investment. We can't have SAPS getting all the shady deals. I thought SAPS did VIP transport? Hence the purchase of the R150 million Citation jet two years ago. Google ADOAIR. They own one Hawker 800XP. Used price between R35 to R50 million. Google pre-owned gulfstream. You will find used top of the line G550 at about R350 million. So the defense department wants to lease two planes for over twice the price of purchasing two G550.</div><div class="comment_text"><div class="fl"><a class="author_link bold" href="http://www.blogger.com/" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Gen</a> - </div><div class="clr"></div><div class="comment_text">It must have been the bantu education that the present elite had that helped them calculate that R16,9million times 5 is greater than 808 million. PS When chartering an aircraft , the maintenance is already added. The money the ANC plan to spend will not remain in South Africa, if you say I'm wrong, check the ownership of charter company.</div><div class="comment_text"></div><div class="comment_text"><div class="fl"><a class="author_link bold" href="http://twitter.com/ev_ert" target="_blank">Embee Diamonds</a> - </div><div class="clr"></div><div class="comment_text">Assuming it is the Hawker 800XPi's- these sell for around $8m dollars pre-owned in the first world. To the math...someone is lining someone's pockets somewhere...</div><div class="comment_text"></div><div class="comment_text"><div class="fl"><a class="author_link bold" href="http://www.blogger.com/" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">marc</a> -  </div><div class="clr"></div><div class="comment_text">US$ 115 million? You could get two very exceptional jets, that fulfill the mandate, for a 3rd of that price. ADO AIR is a Nigerian company......Look it doenst take an rocket scientist to work out there is something very, very fishy about this deal. Daylight Robbery! Check out controller.com for jet prices.</div></div></div></div><div class="comment_text"></div><div class="comment_text"><div class="fl"><a class="author_link bold" href="http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=557575807" target="_blank">Ralph</a> - </div><div class="clr"></div><div class="comment_text">In 1994 the ANC took over the goose that laid the golden egg, but I am afraid that they are forgetting to feed the goose and pretty soon it will die and then they will have nothing. </div></div><div align="justify"> Source:<a href="http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/Politics/Luxury-VIP-jets-for-SA-elite-20110403">http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/Politics/Luxury-VIP-jets-for-SA-elite-20110403</a></div>

R800m for VIP jets when millions do not have housing, health and basic services

Why are we spending R800m on aircraft for VIPs when millions of people do not have housing, health and basic services? Government VIPs will ...

12:14 AM

'Why I left South Africa'

There are views for and against SA as it stands now. Here is my 50 cents on the state of affairs. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjlnPT7vu_DScC03C57c09ae9za99JdWJkQGpWueYtE8jpnPrsTbGipl5I7UQR54nPs6Qlp20mX0eBC4YLuBO9Bcz8kXJ0bfHwUPryWTVpOrY7WsUc30hNhW8AEUZ4NiCQqGry1JKfgOZ9/s1600/EXPATS.gif"></a>Pros: <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1xh144ieKf8YksdhWUrRjzj0L-eFMXhODscwHjus5wVvLzQrYOyQmprGSCQH5T-TbNNXa3XrRWuediyvU0ZRKZY5qTzHVKTnlgjHICKpOheA5kCXTq_7HTXarul9QMpK9BnuedLnEU2dJ/s1600/EXPATS.gif"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5550750283061566210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1xh144ieKf8YksdhWUrRjzj0L-eFMXhODscwHjus5wVvLzQrYOyQmprGSCQH5T-TbNNXa3XrRWuediyvU0ZRKZY5qTzHVKTnlgjHICKpOheA5kCXTq_7HTXarul9QMpK9BnuedLnEU2dJ/s400/EXPATS.gif" style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 250px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 170px; CURSOR: hand" /></a>1. Weather is generally great all over SA. 2. Freedom of Movement. 3. Great outdoors. 4. Big 5. 5. Huge opportunities. 6. Infectious SA humour and camaraderie. There are many more, and to each person they hold a different weighing of importance. Just so that you all know, I left SA, for these reasons... Cons: 1. Crime. Why is there a massive disparity between the police stats and the SAMA stats? Even so, the level of violence that goes with a house breaking etc. is off the scale, and don’t let them bull dust you, it is getting worse. (I have friends who own security companies, and their stats are all going up rapidly; why are the cops going down?) 2. Water. Why was the report by Dr Anthony Turton blocked by the CSIR? We have acid mine drainage and Government just set up a task team to “look into the matter” time has gone for this, action is required. 3. Sewerage. Government refused to release a report on the state of sewage, saying that it would cause panic amongst people, who didn’t understand. Yeah right. You have to love this minister, who says you only have a crisis when there is a country-wide outbreak of cholera. Just look to Haiti to see how well that idea worked! Read the <a href="http://www.dwaf.gov.za/Documents/GreenDropReport.pdf%20">report here</a>. 4. Corruption. There is almost zero appetite for tackling corruption. People get “redeployed” rather than fired and jailed. 5. Education. The highest per capita allocation in the world, and the results are dismal. I say no more. 6. Economy and social grants. People in SA need grants, that’s a fact, but you cannot have 4.5 million tax payers feeding 14 million (and counting) people. At some point, you have to give less to be able to give more. The tax base in SA is too small for all these election promises, SA has to become more prudent. 7. BEE. The idea was noble, the execution a disaster. For a white guy to get a shot at goals in SA he has to start a company. Once successful, he has to take on a BEE partner to get business, and the inevitable “SA handshake” Note, not all do business like this, but I have been around enough businesses to know this is de rigueur. 8. SARS at roadblocks. I have queried this with about 40-odd people who live in other countries, and they don’t know of any in those countries that have dedicated people from SARS/IRS etc at a roadblock. This tells me the fiscus is desperate for money. 9. Land reform. Why not use a partnership model? Who does Government expect someone to walk onto a farm and suddenly know how to run it profitably? The distribution plan is noble, and again, terribly executed. 10. Infrastructure. Not enough money to fix the roads. And oh yes, we pay taxes on our licenses, and then again on petrol, why then do we pay AGAIN for toll roads? Where is the money going to? 11. Plastic bags tax. Where is all that money people? 12. Quasi-militant unions. Utterances like, “we will make the country ungovernable” and “they will be war”, “we cannot guarantee we can control our members” wake up! This is a low-grade war. Since when do soldiers storm the Union Buildings? That is high treason people. We cannot afford to pay more for civil servants but they hold a gun to our head. Why do these people loot and trash the streets, cars and shops? Basal thuggery, endorsed by their handlers. There are many more points I can raise, but stand back a little and look at all the pieces of this jigsaw puzzle and SEE what your eyes and ears are telling your brain. It has been declining slowly for years. Forget the NP or the ANC. Who is running it matters not, how they are running it matters. Unless the so-called great unwashed realise they are getting a raw deal every 5 years, it will keep getting worse. I am grateful to my Father in heaven for the chance to leave. I will not throw stones when asked by people about my former country, but I will be candid about the facts. It is indeed, Cry The Beloved Country. I sleep now with open windows; don’t worry about the guy selling a paper at the traffic light (robot) or the lights behind me on the way home. SA citizens, you are going to have to stand up and demand accountability. Call me what you wish, but I am happier now than I have been in 20 years. My children have a genuine shot at goals. To those who choose to remain and those who cannot leave, I salute you.

'Why I left South Africa'

There are views for and against SA as it stands now. Here is my 50 cents on the state of affairs. Pros: 1. Weather is generally great all ov...

7:23 PM

The Zuma shuffle

All those taxpayer-funded luxury sedans have barely lost their 'new car' smell and already we are faced with a fresh batch of ministers. Not that we're complaining. Most – bar one, perhaps – of the ministers who were booted unceremoniously out of Zuma's Cabinet were simply living it up instead of living up to our not-particularly-high expectations. As long as the new ministers don't feel the need to splurge on newer cars and houses... But I have my doubts <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjng75yiqK1riacivyxZqJGYXQA7ZI8N17_DhU2Ku6NhyjgomNt-SKlr-709WM6-cFDkN0iqVVxAz01UiPs5oApzgkKEnRgRMo_-98dlYAmq-wSPTt6rR1P1u3A7BpYXeZvYofVsXsFX4l8/s1600/ditwits.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535273670540313058" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjng75yiqK1riacivyxZqJGYXQA7ZI8N17_DhU2Ku6NhyjgomNt-SKlr-709WM6-cFDkN0iqVVxAz01UiPs5oApzgkKEnRgRMo_-98dlYAmq-wSPTt6rR1P1u3A7BpYXeZvYofVsXsFX4l8/s400/ditwits.jpg" style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 400px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 372px; CURSOR: hand" /></a>Most of those fired, especially Women's Minister Noluthando Mayende-Sibiya, Communications Minister Siphiwe Nyanda and Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana, thoroughly deserved the axe. The most suspicious exit is that of Geoff Doidge, who was known to play by the rules in his Public Works portfolio. Is his departure linked to his decision to investigate the controversial R500-million office-block tender for new police headquarters in Pretoria that police commissioner Bheki Cele signed off on? New appointments made to please, not to improve - Times LIVE What is worrying about Zuma's announcement, however, is that many of the high-profile appointments appear to have been motivated more by his desire to keep all factions that make up the ANC satisfied, rather than improve the work of government.To appease the ANC Youth League, he awarded Fikile Mbalula the Department of Sports and Recreation. Zuma also promoted Paul Mashatile to be the full minister of arts and culture, therefore winning ruling party structures in Gauteng. Deputy ministers - the vaguest job in government Zuma has automatically created new support bases for himself by bringing in a slew of deputy ministers who can act as extras to protect him. Because they don't have defined roles, deputy ministers simply do whatever their ministers deem them to be capable of and in some cases they can keep an eye on the minister. The creation of four new deputy ministerial positions increases the size of an already bloated administration at a huge cost to taxpayers. Zuma axes ministers in bid to regain control - Financial Times William Gumede, a political analyst, said the president “had been voted in not because people think he’s a great leader but because he promised to deal with health, poverty and education. But on all those things there has been no success whatsoever.” Zuma keeps friends close, enemies closer - Mail & Guardian Online The reshuffle was designed to create a “perception” that ministers were being held to account, Mr Gumede said, but was primarily aimed at neutralizing political rivals. “If he can lock those people in by giving them cabinet posts, they might support him in 2012 – or at least not oppose him.”

The Zuma shuffle

All those taxpayer-funded luxury sedans have barely lost their 'new car' smell and already we are faced with a fresh batch of minist...

3:30 AM

Govt pays for soccer jaunt

The Eastern Cape health department may have been defrauded of as much as R10-million over the past three years in a scam run under cover of an air ambulance contract. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji4_XgHuq3Q21T-wd2RrTyDaUxE-n0sakIt-bPpTSnYaBRjnMZn_J17kwq7PBwLsAYBaUeosyA2S-BRIf90iZkCMOqhXtX-UolFKrID19WK-b04gzeN67dbnVkmmnEKZPAiFp2KPtPIWb9/s1600-h/air-ambulance.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443288185795069826" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji4_XgHuq3Q21T-wd2RrTyDaUxE-n0sakIt-bPpTSnYaBRjnMZn_J17kwq7PBwLsAYBaUeosyA2S-BRIf90iZkCMOqhXtX-UolFKrID19WK-b04gzeN67dbnVkmmnEKZPAiFp2KPtPIWb9/s400/air-ambulance.jpg" style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 300px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" /></a>Spokesman Sizwe Kupelo said the initial results of an investigation by a team that included accountants indicated the department had been grossly overcharged for services rendered by the company awarded the contract. The department was not suggesting any wrongdoing on the part of the company, National Airways Corporation. "But we are investigating possible collusion between some of our officials and their employees," he said. Typical of the instances of overcharging was billing six hours for a flight from East London to Mthatha, and six hours back. The department had suspended several of its officials in connection with the scam, and referred matters to the police for investigation, Kupelo said. The province's head of emergency medical services, Shanks Maharaj, was suspended last year following an investigation into a R95 000 jaunt to Bloemfontein in an air ambulance at the department's expense. The plane was used to fly officials to watch a Confederations Cup match between Spain and the United States. Maharaj resigned earlier this month, without having gone through a disciplinary enquiry. Among eight other officials suspended last week, also in relation to the flight, are a provincial operations manager, three heads of ambulance centres, a secretary, two emergency fleet managers and the deputy manager of an ambulance centre. They would face a disciplinary hearing next week. He said the department had identified 411 irregular contracts worth some R49 million awarded in this way in the 2008/9 and 2009/10 financial years. Among them was one awarded to a security company to service about 15 clinics in the East London area, for which the company was now demanding payment of R164 000.

Govt pays for soccer jaunt

The Eastern Cape health department may have been defrauded of as much as R10-million over the past three years in a scam run under cover of ...

4:35 AM

SA up to its eyeballs in sewage

A full 97% of the country's sewage system infrastructure is 'dilapidated' and the overall neglect of the country's water and sanitation systems will cost R56 billion to repair. At the bottom of the cesspit in the findings was Mpumalanga's waste water treatment works scoring a vile 39 (more than 5 times acceptable risk levels), while the North West ranked second – at 33. Barkly East (Eastern Cape) scored 14 on the cumulative risk rating (twice the acceptable risk levels)Hidden Mortality <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-F79421FBg5eX73AoSQiVC_bCF1bQW0TJwtztr0KmQdPMo6UGfgH-7_4RJd_Ymw8y7wSRjfQB1uNpY2FJZz4fCr8nVs4ZyAwqutV2ikTk9YsD2NfglkK5At9bdvADR0uDaa2QbOTvFHc8/s1600-h/water-neglect.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5440692811512202562" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-F79421FBg5eX73AoSQiVC_bCF1bQW0TJwtztr0KmQdPMo6UGfgH-7_4RJd_Ymw8y7wSRjfQB1uNpY2FJZz4fCr8nVs4ZyAwqutV2ikTk9YsD2NfglkK5At9bdvADR0uDaa2QbOTvFHc8/s400/water-neglect.jpg" style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 295px; CURSOR: hand" /></a> From January to April 2008, more than 80 Barkly East children died of diarrhoeal diseases amid initial official denial, avoidance and obfuscation about a malfunctioning and decaying water reticulation and purification system. An epidemiological report confirmed that the purification process broke down in October 2007, with water tests revealing elevated levels of bacteria and Escherichia coli from then right through until March 2008. The first 15 Barkly East deaths led to a January report recommending the situation be declared an emergency with a wider probe needed. This led to the grim discovery that the baby and child death toll at nearby Sterkspruit was 4 times worse (62 child or baby deaths). Chief among the reasons identified for the current crisis were <ul><li>a lack of planning and budgeting by councillors, </li><li>the awarding of contracts to inexperienced contractors, </li><li>lack of skilled officials to operate facilities, </li><li>inability of officials to budget for and operate infrastructure, </li><li>vacant managerial and operational posts, </li><li>lack of technical ability to plan+manage capital-intensive water services projects, </li><li>mostly unqualified controllers, </li><li>lack of financial skills, </li><li>poor money management.</li></ul>Source: - SAMJ: South African Medical Journal vol.99 no.8 Cape Town Aug. 2009 Only 3% of SA’s sewage works are operational The best and the worst never happens in South Africa, Jan Smuts once remarked. And how right the old man was, when you consider the mind-numbing banality that passes as news of national importance these days. Amazingly, for a country facing the impossible task of bridging the biggest wealth gap in the world, the ongoing personal foibles of its president (which, to be honest, I truly couldn’t care about, as long as he gets the job done), continually hog the headlines, while the shortfall is made up of the rude outbursts of a township tsotsi who has twigged on to the bright idea that nationalising the mines would, after all, be the quickest way of getting really rich. Meanwhile, the startling revelation that only 3% of the country’s sewage works are operational, makes it only onto page 10 of an Afrikaans daily newspaper, while the English press never get around to actually covering it. In the North West, as exasperated farmers in Swartruggens and Sannieshof can attest to, there are apparently no fully functional sewage works. Not a single one. In the Free State, 99% don’t work. In a country as critically water stressed as South Africa, this should amount to nothing less than a national crisis. There should be a flurry of ministerial activity, as departmental heads roll, and anxious engineers are shuttled to and fro across the country, as they frantically try to stem the rising tide of preventable pollution. Instead, the department of water affairs’ official response is that they have, indeed, commissioned a report on the state of sewage works, but are still putting the finishing touches to it. Meanwhile, livestock carcasses, infected with tapeworm, are turned away at abattoirs after animals drink water with faecal counts way off the charts, polluted water kills hundreds of babies in small-town municipalities, and irrigation farmers wait nervously for their export markets to slam unceremoniously shut. The bottom line is that no one of consequence seems to be particularly interested in the art of moving turds from point A to point B in such a way that they don’t end up where they don’t belong, like in a river. An essential engineering pursuit first perfected by the Romans thousands of years ago, but not deemed important here in South Africa, as we pursue some very dubious other priorities. Like replacing the some 7 374 police firearms that have gone missing over the past three years. Arms that almost certainly all end up in the hands of criminals, who definitely don’t take them out to the shooting range. Instead, they end up being thrust into your face as your house gets ransacked. After all, have you ever heard of burglars using hunting rifles? So amazingly, a fair whack of violent crime could simply be avoided if police would just hang on to their weapons. The official response? The minister of police, without the slightest hint of irony, announces that he would like, eventually, to see no-one in the country armed, except the police! Nothing is ever said about how this haemorrhaging of police weapons will be stopped, or what action will be taken against police officers who lose their weapons. Instead, private citizens, punch-drunk by the criminal onslaught, are threatened with lengthy jail sentences if the new firearm legislation isn’t followed to the letter. One can only still hope that Smut’s prediction will hold. Source: - <a href="http://www.farmersweekly.co.za/">http://www.farmersweekly.co.za/</a> See also:- <a href="http://censorbugbear-reports.blogspot.com/">http://censorbugbear-reports.blogspot.com/</a>

SA up to its eyeballs in sewage

A full 97% of the country's sewage system infrastructure is 'dilapidated' and the overall neglect of the country's water and...

4:20 AM

Manto will be remembered for her failure to fight Aids

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqMw878DR3ujFDmr9AaHjcfTerb16DoChyrzZ2icUpWPlwNk-q9_Ypb_69rggi6G4m0czDN-pe7u2F6_JtV8lZMhdt-MN2MDaA8LCcN_9lzRbKl_vgjIWwyIhuITiDufcV_vx8sG-m8sLd/s1600-h/jack-daniels-manto.bmp"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415960570164273234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqMw878DR3ujFDmr9AaHjcfTerb16DoChyrzZ2icUpWPlwNk-q9_Ypb_69rggi6G4m0czDN-pe7u2F6_JtV8lZMhdt-MN2MDaA8LCcN_9lzRbKl_vgjIWwyIhuITiDufcV_vx8sG-m8sLd/s320/jack-daniels-manto.bmp" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 302px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" /></a>MANTO Tshabalala-Msimang, South Africa’s controversial former health minister has died. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK6oMdjglUi9P-8GbnkuK4bxDFT3rG8dTUfq_MYLhIFUXeZljFiAy-OBqfuitc-VLHXHa7bA4QDRx5Z96aXcOlnKUdyfxPSBDVcdeTByNJ6I-ZalRSjo2vrtE5oncKwpY26iIOsimHlq2Q/s1600-h/manto%2520Incapable%2520Idiot.jpg"></a>She was controversial because of the stance that she took — backed by her then boss, President Thabo Mbeki — against rolling out anti-retroviral drugs to those with HIV/Aids. Tshabalala-Msimang and Mbeki have been blamed for an estimated 330 000 preventable deaths according to a study by academics at Harvard University. But it was not always so. Few will remember now that it was her predecessor, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, who was first criticised for failing to properly address the Aids crisis. In fact she made a very good impression on taking office. One of the first things she did was to visit Uganda, then a leading example of how a relatively under-resourced government could mount a successful national campaign against Aids. Zambia’s political leaders, in stark contrast to South Africa’s, mounted a strong public campaign calling for the use of condoms and the destigmatisation of those who had it. Tshabalala-Msimang, it seemed, would finally get government’s Aids programme working. But it was not to be. Under the shadow of an openly denialist Mbeki, she grew increasingly taciturn and eventually became the number one enemy of those lobbying for government to roll out Aids treatment. She famously fought an application in the Constitutional Court for the roll out of Nevirapine, then the leading drug for the prevention of mother-to-child Aids transmission. Tshabalala Msimang made a big contribution to the liberation of South Africa. But her legacy will sadly remain that of the minister who cost this country thousands of lives.

Manto will be remembered for her failure to fight Aids

MANTO Tshabalala-Msimang, South Africa’s controversial former health minister has died. She was controversial because of the stance that sh...

7:13 AM

Deadly Swine Flu spreading across South Africa

BUMPED TO THE TOP FOR UPDATE - SCROLL DOWN FOR NEWER POSTS<a class="entry-title-link" closure_hashcode_2k7ipa="538" href="http://www.thetimes.co.za/News/Article.aspx?id=1050968" target="_blank">Swine flu death toll now six ‘and rising’ </a>Get your masks people.. it’s going to get messy <img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5367266660020859794" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_rn5JLyhR2PYgH1nGNhlhlI7RxB60hozTlREoEqaRlBdVLBfACNib_04lWFnlR8Inxhj5yWPJd9RSEtIGTkHKaWjWHLX7ta5XcAfbs1krYYr-FogG2pP-Ob13Vi82n1heN2K4Gy2VDmY/s400/swine-flu-sa.jpg" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 225px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" />South Africa's swine flu caseload has increased fourfold since the country's first case was reported on June 14. First Swine Flu Death Reported In South Africa Ruan Muller, a 22-year-old student at Stellenbosch University near Cape Town, becomes the first fatality due to swine flu in sub-Saharan Africa. 28/07/2009 South Africa Reports Second Swine Flu Death in Bloemfontein The 15-year-old teenager was admitted to Pelonomi Hospital with pneumonia symptoms but the health department confirmed he died of the N1H1 virus. 1/08/2009 South Africa's Third Victim of Swine Flu Reported in the Western Cape.A Western Cape man, Johann Hack, collapsed at home and was declared dead on Tuesday morning at Vergelegen Medi-Clinic hospital in Somerset West. 4/08/2009SA's Fourth Swine Flu Victim A 23-year-old woman, believed to be seven months' pregnant, died at the Addington Hospital in Durban on Wednesday 12/08/2009.SA Records Fifth Swine Flu Death A second pregnant woman has died from swine flu, the national Health Department said on Sunday. the 27-year-old Eastern Cape woman's death brought the number of the H1N1 deaths to five in the country. 16/08/2009.SA's H1N1 Toll Reaches 6 South Africa now has six confirmed swine flu deaths. A 64-year old diabetic woman, the third person in the Western Cape, has died at Tygerberg Hospital of the A(H1N1) virus. 16/08/2009First Gauteng Swine Flu Victim, and Seventh in the Country Earlier on Thursday, the institute confirmed that the virus was the cause of death of a 21-year-old Pretoria woman 19/08/2009Eighth Swine Flu Death Confirmed The 38-year-old woman, who was in her third trimester of pregnancy, died at Dora Nzinga Hospital in Port Elizabeth. 20/08/2009Swine Flu Toll Rises to 9 - UPDATENINE South Africans have died of swine flu since the disease broke out in the country on June 18.An unidentified person believed to have contracted swine flu died at the weekend.The last confirmed swine flu death was that of a 53-year-old man from Randfontein, on the West Rand, on August 14<img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5367266671980180466" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIyM4eoskORL8Xh7j8gQmlJ-eCxQg_1YbBOnI1QrbvhtR82UoaZs6IDmBmGzvfrf0s6neX4VpHgZ4uuK1Fho0HOw2oapJRUKICZnGaaxVOkJOCz0KYOH5eWB0Wxlac1YV6M0XjqYKkIjA/s400/swine-flu-track-outbreak.jpg" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 114px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" /> <a href="http://www.health24.com/tools/sa_swineflu/" target="_self">Track the rapid spread of swine flu in South Africa with News24</a>. I have been following the epidemic since its first outbreak. What first looked to be some ominous signs of a doomsday scenario, is now uncomfortably close to home, just around the corner. How often is that the stuff of science-fiction becomes science-fact: Greg Bear writes in his Nebula award-winning novel <a href="http://etrader.kalahari.net/referral.asp?linkid=5&partnerid=7165&sku=4176610" target="_blank">Darwin’s Radio</a>, “the next great war will start inside us.” In the next stage of evolution, mankind is history. Is it really like Nietzsche believed: “The sick are the greatest danger for the healthy; it is not from the strongest that harm comes to the strong, but from the weakest.” <a class="headline" href="http://www.mg.co.za/article/2009-08-17-sa-swine-flu-cases-near-3nbsp500-mark">SA swine flu cases near 3 500 mark</a>

Deadly Swine Flu spreading across South Africa

BUMPED TO THE TOP FOR UPDATE - SCROLL DOWN FOR NEWER POSTS Swine flu death toll now six ‘and rising’ Get your masks people.. it’s going to g...

3:13 AM

Freaky swine flu ad from 1976

Freaky swine flu ad from 1976

Swine flu doesn't seem to be a new thing - here's a cool propaganda-type swine flu 'run-for-the-hills' ad from way back. It ...

10:11 AM

Gorillas, chimpanzees, sources of HIV

Researchers identify new strain of HIV derived from gorillas <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB2It2R4rVV3HT0f9lKCEDA4F9A0TlAz5fE_fsuJY65SK7r9vkL4Cu2zjmDpFi2K8aKYCGs6hhKGZVtlX5d653s8e9JS6XtIWr21FVDVkLdIcJ1nQcX7qLH1C9RbbZ7pYs0BAkK0pTHI0/s1600-h/gorilla_africanus.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5367620645818307410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB2It2R4rVV3HT0f9lKCEDA4F9A0TlAz5fE_fsuJY65SK7r9vkL4Cu2zjmDpFi2K8aKYCGs6hhKGZVtlX5d653s8e9JS6XtIWr21FVDVkLdIcJ1nQcX7qLH1C9RbbZ7pYs0BAkK0pTHI0/s400/gorilla_africanus.jpg" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 344px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 326px" /></a>(CNN) -- French researchers have identified a new human immunodeficiency virus, the first derived from gorillas, a report said Monday. The three previous HIV variants came from chimpanzees. The new findings indicate that gorillas, in addition to chimpanzees, are likely sources of HIV, the researchers concluded in a report published in the weekly Nature Medicine journal. The new virus, called RBF 168, was detected in a 62-year-old woman who moved to Paris, France, from the western Africa nation of Cameroon, the report says. She tested positive for HIV in 2004, and researchers led by Jean-Christophe Plantier identified the virus as being closely related to a recently discovered simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV). The new gorilla virus "has many of the biological properties necessary for human infection," the report says. "The human case described here does not seem to be an isolated incident, as before coming to Paris the subject had lived in the semiurban area of Yaounde, the capital of Cameroon, and reported no contact with apes or bush meat," the researchers said. That would indicate that the woman contracted the virus from another human. The significance of the latest findings is difficult to determine without more information, said Robert C. Gallo, who co-discovered HIV in 1984. "It's yet to be known," Gallo said. "It could be zero. ... Let's see a more full report on this individual and let's see wider testing." Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, calls the latest HIV variant "an oddity" but said it's not surprising that it cropped up, because the virus has been circulating in non-human primates for centuries. The three previous HIV variants are labeled M, N and O. The new one has been classified P. The N and O variants, Fauci said, are extremely rare. "It's not significant unless it establishes itself as a predominant strain," he said. "We have not seen that with N and O." Fauci lumps the new P variant with the rare group because it has been detected in only one patient. If it were widespread, Fauci said, "we would already know about it. When these things happen, you see a lot of them around." Even if the new variant proves lethal, it's not likely to increase AIDS infections, said Gallo, director of the Institute of Human Virology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. There are so many HIV variations, he said, that one more is not likely to make a difference. The new virus is difficult to detect by conventional tests because it is not closely related to the other three HIV variants. "This demonstrates that HIV evolution is an ongoing process," co-researcher David Robertson of the University of Manchester said in a release. "The virus can jump from species to species, from primate to primate, and that includes us; pathogens have been with us for millions of years and routinely switch host species." HIV can lead to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, which attacks the body's immune system, giving rise to lethal infections. Patients diagnosed with HIV can take medications to delay or stop HIV from developing into AIDS. There are 33 million confirmed cases of AIDS worldwide. The unnamed woman has no signs of AIDS and remains untreated, Nature Medicine said. The most likely explanation for the emergence of the new virus is gorilla-to-human transmission, though researchers say they cannot rule out the possibility that the chimpanzee SIV gave rise to the new strain "either indirectly by transmission to gorillas and then to humans or directly by transmission to humans and also to gorillas." Researchers said they don't know how widespread the virus is among humans. "The human prevalence of this new lineage remains to be determined," the report says, adding that "it could be circulating unnoticed in Cameroon or elsewhere." Western Central Africa bears close watching, the researchers suggest. "In conclusion, our findings indicate that gorillas, in addition to chimpanzees, are likely sources of HIV-1," the report states. "The discovery of this novel HIV-1 lineage highlights the continuing need to watch closely for the emergence of new HIV variants, particularly in western central Africa, the origin of all existing HIV-1 groups." Co-researcher Robertson noted that the new virus may not be restricted to Africa. "It also highlights how human mobility can rapidly transfer a virus from one geographical location to another as has been dramatically evident with the recent emergence of swine flu," he said.

Gorillas, chimpanzees, sources of HIV

Researchers identify new strain of HIV derived from gorillas (CNN) -- French researchers have identified a new human immunodeficiency virus,...

7:29 AM

22 year-old Stellenbosch student dies of swine flu

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic-J4U2cePUtdLcER1piDw_w8utPJdmcyzU0M3mxbKHSqpt97v8DUyaN7Xx5b7Tki2PPamTS0vRUbnXyZN6hQeOXwcFMswe2qvYw1jUqaMC3a4uRclh_pmB6oJTkloZcq1Kgd0u0B0Do0/s1600-h/swine-flu.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5365877602762492098" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic-J4U2cePUtdLcER1piDw_w8utPJdmcyzU0M3mxbKHSqpt97v8DUyaN7Xx5b7Tki2PPamTS0vRUbnXyZN6hQeOXwcFMswe2qvYw1jUqaMC3a4uRclh_pmB6oJTkloZcq1Kgd0u0B0Do0/s320/swine-flu.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" /></a><a class="related" href="http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=nw20090803145643267C533334">SA reports first swine flu death</a> <a class="related" href="http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=vn20090803030259876C448277">H1N1: Education officials worried</a> <a class="related" href="http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=nw20090802222411854C244580">Swine flu in schools 'a cause for concern'</a> <a class="articleheadline" href="http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=nw20090803220607107C777449">University mourns swine flu victim</a> [ <a class="sectlink" href="http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=13">South Africa</a> ] Stellenbosch University student Ruan Muller was the first South African to die of swine flu. See <a class="storylink" href="http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=nw20090803220607107C777449">Full Story...</a> A 22-year-old student at Stellenbosch University has become the first confirmed casualty of the H1N1 virus commonly known as swine flu, the department of health said on Monday. Minister Aaron Motsoaledi said the student died last Friday (July 28) after suffering from cardiac arrest.According to the department's information, the man went to the campus clinic on July 20 with flu like symptoms. When he did not improve he went to a general practitioner. He left campus and went to stay at his parents' home over the weekend but after consulting another doctor he was referred to a Western Cape private hospital for treatment. He was treated as a case of atypical pneumonia with antibiotics. Last Monday his condition deteriorated and he was moved to the intensive care unit where he died the following day. A specimen was collected and tested for H1N1 at a private laboratory and specimens were also sent to the NICD for further testing. H1N1 was confirmed by the NICD, which is a World Health Organisation reference laboratory, today [Monday].

22 year-old Stellenbosch student dies of swine flu

SA reports first swine flu death H1N1: Education officials worried Swine flu in schools 'a cause for concern' University mourns swi...

12:45 PM

How many years of HIV treatment can your presidential jet buy?

229,524, <a href="http://www.arasa.info/" target="_blank">according </a>to the AIDS & Rights Alliance for Southern Africa in a PR video calling out the African Union and African leaders for not spending enough on health. One year of corruption in Africa = 704 million years of HIV treatment See the rest in this video set to <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWebzEbHCJI" s_oid="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWebzEbHCJI" s_oidt="0" target="_blank">Akon's</a> - "I'm So Paid": <object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/MkWoKgLhDVs&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&feature=player_embedded&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/MkWoKgLhDVs&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&feature=player_embedded&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>And for more fun, add all those numbers up at the end for a grand total of lives that could’ve been saved. Then visit the <a href="http://arasa.info/" target="_blank">AIDS and Rights Alliance of Southern Africa</a> (ARASA), a network of local NGOs who describe themselves as pursuing a human rights approach to HIV and TB treatment. <blockquote>“Africa South of the Sahara still faces a grim scenario with respect to the health of its people. The region –which is home to 12 percent of the world’s population –accounts for 22 percent of the total global disease burden and more than 68 percent of the people living with HIV/AIDS. The region’s poor health status is mirrored by crises in health financing and human resources for health.With only 2 percent of the global health workforce and only 1 percent of the world’s health expenditures Sub-Saharan African countries are ill-equipped to adequately address their health problems.”</blockquote>- AU Paper (CAMH/EXP/13a(IV))presented to AU Ministers of Health Conference in Ethiopia, May 2009<a href="http://www.arasa.info/healthmoney" title="Show Us the Money for Health: An Open Appeal to African Heads of State">Show Us the Money for Health: An Open Appeal to African Heads of State</a> Sign the petition Calling on African Heads of State to Allocate More Money to Health!We need not rehash the masses of data that demonstrate in no uncertain terms that <a href="http://www.arasa.info/node/48"></a>health in Sub-Saharan Africa is in absolute crisis – child health, maternal health, HIV, TB, malaria… the list of our health woes is miserably endless.We do not need to point out, once again, the <a href="http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/86/11/08-054932/en/index.html">skewed priorities</a> that govern how money in this region is spent or mis-spent: by now these are obvious, painful and embarrassing.This correspondence is not about technicalities. It is, fundamentally, a moral challenge.A status quo has been established in much of the African region whereby money – a lot of which comes from the labour of civilians whose votes and/or fear keep you in power – is used <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4723572.stm">without transparency</a>, and without humanity.Decisions on health are among the most critical decisions that our leaders can make, and are invariably some of the most disappointing.Our money bleeds into places we cannot see, while our health care workers sacrifice their right to decent wages and working conditions and our people sacrifice their right to health and life. In the meantime, we knock on the door of the international community to cushion the altar – and certainly, the international community has a responsibility to fulfil their commitments to health funding – but, so do we.What happened to the <a href="http://rbm.who.int/docs/abuja_declaration.pdf">Abuja Declaration</a> of 2001? Do you remember stating that “We are fully convinced that containing and reversing the HIV/AIDS epidemic, tuberculosis and other infectious diseases should constitute our top priority for the first quarter of the 21st Century”?With close to 2 million people dying of HIV and TB in Africa every year, and governments across the region putting the brakes on scaling up access to prevention, treatment and care – are you still convinced?What about the commitment to allocating at least 15% of national budgets to health?<a href="http://www.arasa.info/www.africa-union.org/.../2009/.../CAMH-EXP-13a(iv)%20Paper%20Health%20Financing%20in%20Africa.doc">Where is the money?</a>You may have forgotten, but we have not and cannot. Your broken promises translate into broken lives.Worse still, the economic recession threatens to push health even further down the agenda. The tragic irony is that, as history has shown and much <a href="http://www-wds.worldbank.org/servlet/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2007/08/01/000158349_20070801103922/Rendered/PDF/wps4295.pdf">expert analysis</a> has reiterated, this will cost us far more down the line. There is no bright future in ill health.We acknowledge that our dismay does not apply evenly across the board. Some countries are doing better than others, because political commitment to health is real and present. We urge these leaders to stand up and challenge their peers.We call on African governments to scrutinize their country-level prioritization of health and to develop clear roadmaps for meeting the Abuja 15% target for expenditure on this basic human right.We are watching, and organizing, and will hold our governments accountable for the promises that they have made.Please sign the <a href="http://www.arasa.info/taxonomy/term/121">Petition</a>. ADDRESS AND CONTACT DETAILS WILL NOT BE SHARED.Related - <a alt="Africa: Backsliding On Aids Funding" href="http://www.arasa.info/node/115" title="Africa: Backsliding On Aids Funding">Africa: Backsliding On Aids Funding</a>

How many years of HIV treatment can your presidential jet buy?

229,524, according to the AIDS & Rights Alliance for Southern Africa in a PR video calling out the African Union and African leaders for...

12:08 PM

SA’s major cities infested with rats

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_5gZVd6dIAfsj5Hbe3Wof8at9_rvuzeGaO_xbll4nslLm4pTmNSzV7_ObEIGWvPnKM13UScycg1pHR_kSMZq4YMrF7CT_MQWTKhe9VmmIY1aLwjhlXsIdnmYnyEzSril96mEG2Qv-oas/s1600-h/Rats-KFC--27290.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5365309836294564946" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_5gZVd6dIAfsj5Hbe3Wof8at9_rvuzeGaO_xbll4nslLm4pTmNSzV7_ObEIGWvPnKM13UScycg1pHR_kSMZq4YMrF7CT_MQWTKhe9VmmIY1aLwjhlXsIdnmYnyEzSril96mEG2Qv-oas/s400/Rats-KFC--27290.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 299px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px" /></a>If South Africa’s city dwellers think they smell a rat, they probably do: the rodents are thriving in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban and East London. Migration to cities, a growing number of informal settlements, street vendors and poor waste management by municipalities, business and homeowners are among factors responsible for the population explosion of these dirty pest. Now city authorities, who are responsible for maintaining hygiene, are having to fork out millions to kill the vermin. But officials say they cannot keep urban centres clean by themselves and residents need to play their part. Pamela Mudley, the marketing manager of a leading pest control firm, said Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town were “in an advanced state of infestation”. “The lack of proper hygiene standards in the major cities has been a contributory factor to the increased numbers of rodents,” she said. Rats transmit a wide range of diseases including salmonellosis, typhus, rat bite fever and trichinosis. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7Q7JsV3gHVIl2Qlt5gWHvNKuBN8k4_d0vzlZtMfEoz7s-rxCA2yioG4AIV35fxKqqTOIonjE1Md8gq0tPDKu45KXE2f37POmAdttLygNW36raT9Kci7Y1Fb79zP9aXqs8QjHHBDwNIhs/s1600-h/Rat--KFC--27280.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5365310097066479698" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7Q7JsV3gHVIl2Qlt5gWHvNKuBN8k4_d0vzlZtMfEoz7s-rxCA2yioG4AIV35fxKqqTOIonjE1Md8gq0tPDKu45KXE2f37POmAdttLygNW36raT9Kci7Y1Fb79zP9aXqs8QjHHBDwNIhs/s400/Rat--KFC--27280.jpg" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 289px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px" /></a>Dr Ivan Bromfield, executive director, Cape Town City Health, confirmed there was “a significant rodent population in the city”, made worse by the fact that refuse was collected only once a week in residential areas. “In the last decade, the number of informal settlements has increased significantly with accompanying waste management challenges ,” said Bromfield. The CBD, restaurants, informal settlements, harbour and transport hubs were worst infested. The city is spending R500000 on poison alone to exterminate rats this year. Johannesburg city health department spokesman Nkosinathi Nkabinde said abandoned buildings in the inner city, extensive illegal dumping and dirty back yards had increased the rodent problem. “The city of Johannesburg spends approximately R15-million annually ... on pesticides, health education, and paying the salaries of about 70 personnel,” said Nkabinde. The money was also used for the extermination of cockroaches, bees and mosquitoes.

SA’s major cities infested with rats

If South Africa’s city dwellers think they smell a rat, they probably do: the rodents are thriving in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban and Ea...

2:32 AM

Nurse busted selling baby formula

More deceit, manipulation, and bullshit ! Integrity is virtually unknown amongst blacks. Nurse bust selling baby formula that should be free for poor mothers<a class="entry-title-link" closure_hashcode_2h8t7n="877" href="http://www.thetimes.co.za/News/Article.aspx?id=1007920" target="_blank">Control of milk stock investigated </a> THE Times has bust a staff member at a Soweto clinic discovered selling government-issued baby milk formula to an HIV-positive mother who should have received it free. While tiny babies were being fed watered-down maize meal and black tea during this month’s formula shortage, the woman, known as “Sister Thandi”, was allegedly selling the little stock left at the Chiawelo Clinic for R150 for a six-pack. Sister Thandi was fired yesterday following The Times’ investigation. <img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5340588322919231874" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_c-8ADHqEbe_xRT5HcXyUUlNGAynZfJq3IgpXRL2zLj9ZBGM2dnJUr8UzSzaE2RmOKEuiLLW1BAEUXppkGj46eijG3V6ObU7XDXUcIGBNnDkRhGQodZa6Qq75TVy4IzP3TY51Aj-DtNBi/s320/chiawelo-clinic-loser-thandi.jpg" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 158px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" /> FIRED: ‘Sister Thandi’ sold government-issued milk formula to a motherGauteng health MEC Qedani Mahlangu apologised this week to mothers who, for more than a week, could not feed their babies because the department had failed to pay formula supplier Nestlé for six months. Nestlé stopped delivering baby formula to clinics and state hospitals last month. On Friday, The Times visited Chiawelo Clinic and found a 28-year-old HIV-positive mother, whom we cannot name, desperately in search of formula for her two-month-old baby. She had been feeding her tiny son black tea. The woman said she had bought formula from another employee at the Chiawelo Clinic in April, despite knowing that she should not have to pay for it. After being turned away by a clinic nurse who claimed that there was no milk, she was approached by one of the clinic staff and told that, if she had money, “they could make a plan”.<div align="center"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5340588318998932098" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0ucFugRHrGLKuDrjJlpaxLLSLohpZ6D8jdXxGXDjCHJsb0QUi6xqzi_9oPE6sWI_uevjumcKN9hwXsvVJzPmIP8UgWnQxSxtm_xRgzI11ZJFMGfEZ3WSzZlrm_ifcMkZD8FVWW03LjQF6/s320/chiawelo-clinic-baby-milk-formula.jpg" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 132px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" /> HIV-positive mother buys baby-milk formula, which she should have received free, at the Chiawelo Clinic, in Soweto </div> HIV-positive mothers risk passing on the virus to their babies through their breast milk and rely on free formula from state clinics and hospitals to feed their children. Last month, when the HIV-positive mother asked the clinic employee, whose name she does not know, how much she had to pay for formula, she was told R150. On Monday, The Times accompanied the young mother to the clinic to buy more formula and Sister Thandi told her that she could not sell it to her while “the other people were around”. She was told to “come tomorrow”. At 8.30am yesterday, the 28-year-old mother joined the queue to receive formula at Chiawelo Clinic’s maternity ward. When her turn came, she approached Sister Thandi and paid for six 400g tins of Nan Pelargon. She did not have her clinic card with her and, in normal circumstances, would have been denied formula. “I went to her office and told her I wanted to buy the milk. I paid her the R150. No questions were asked and within five minutes I got it.” The Times phoned the provincial health department to report the irregularity and an official, who introduced herself as Gugu, was sent to the clinic. Gugu, who refused to reveal her surname but said she was from the “district office”, confronted Sister Thandi in the clinic, which The Times was barred from entering. She confirmed that the formula bought yesterday was from government stock and should have been given free to poor HIV- positive mothers. Gauteng health department spokesman John Louw, said Sister Thandi was an Aids counsellor at the clinic and was employed by a non-government organisation contracted by the health department. He refused to name the organisation. He said Sister Thandi was taken to the police station by clinic security officers and a charge of theft was laid. When her organisation was told of her trade in formula, Louw said, it dismissed her immediately.

Nurse busted selling baby formula

More deceit, manipulation, and bullshit ! Integrity is virtually unknown amongst blacks. Nurse bust selling baby formula that should be fr...

2:47 AM

SA hospitals in crisis again, still, whatever

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0kCs7bgAHSuBCg8Nr1nd3HP6c7VGLlejOT2v0Kd91aj_HVD85EBc_sS_kC00Po6Gzh9T04CATiSPpwQOOZEz_o5ZhXKUEh9IwWnkupBW7QuLHdPUp6x-3VzeVAvWF-xphnKDq9W10vpvC/s1600-h/hospitals-sa-01.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5339163145868342594" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0kCs7bgAHSuBCg8Nr1nd3HP6c7VGLlejOT2v0Kd91aj_HVD85EBc_sS_kC00Po6Gzh9T04CATiSPpwQOOZEz_o5ZhXKUEh9IwWnkupBW7QuLHdPUp6x-3VzeVAvWF-xphnKDq9W10vpvC/s400/hospitals-sa-01.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 390px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 253px" /></a>South Africa’s state hospitals are in crisis — and at risk of collapse. Underpaid doctors are working up to 36-hour shifts without pay, operating theatres and trauma units are summarily shut down because of a lack of basic supplies, and patients are routinely turned away because of a lack of ventilators, beds and medicine. The shocking state of the country’s public health sector was revealed this week by hundreds of underpaid and demoralised doctors who are at loggerheads with the government over their shocking working conditions and paltry pay. South Africa currently has just over 18000 doctors in the public sector, which works out at one doctor to every 3800 citizens without medical aid. The World Health Organisation recommends an average ratio of eight doctors to every 10000 people — about three times more doctors than we currently have. Doctors and health experts blame the shambles of public health on mismanagement. But the minister of health, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, says : “I would not use the word crisis; I would say very serious challenges.” Dr Tina Ingratta, a senior doctor at Johannesburg’s major hospitals, lists poor management and misallocation of resources among the primary reasons why the healthcare system is in disarray. Dr Clarence Mini, who headed a committee to test the standards of Gauteng’s 33 public hospitals, said only 11 met basic standards when they were first measured in 2005. Since then, even some of the successful hospitals had dropped their standards, chiefly “owing to staff shortages and management issues”. As the doctors prepare to take to the streets on Friday and threaten to down tools during next month’s Confederations Cup soccer showpiece, they revealed that: <ul><li>All surgery was cancelled at Boitumelo Hospital in the Free State from Thursday this week because there was no life-saving oxygen and no surgical gloves that fitted surgeons’ hands; </li><li>A patient died of renal failure while stuck in a lift at Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Hospital ( Joburg hospital ). A “colony of flies” lived inside the hospital’s Caesarean-section operating theatre and some patients had to be carried up stairs from operating theatres to ICU on stretchers or in wheelchairs owing to lifts that have been defective for more than a year; </li><li>All life-saving equipment was defective in the emergency room at South Rand Hospital in Rosettenville, Johannesburg, since Thursday this week — including ventilators and a basic heart-restarting “defibrillator” machine that even many gyms stock for their members; </li><li>Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto is regularly forced to “close” on weekends when it runs out of ventilators and space in its trauma wards and experiences frequent critical shortages of life-saving drugs ; </li><li>Only three “or a maximum of four” of Ngwelezane Hospital’s six operating theatres were working owing to a “chronic staff shortage”, with doctors working shifts of up to 36 hours without pay. The hospital is the major trauma centre for northern KwaZulu-Natal ; </li><li>Staff at Tara Hospital in Johannesburg were forced to use petty cash to buy bread and milk this week when “essential foodstuffs” ran out, while food was also not delivered to Sterkfontein Hospital in the past month; </li><li>There were no diagnostic services (procedures used to determine the cause of an illness) “at all” in the critical Nuclear Medicine departments at Bara-gwanath or Charlotte Maxeke hospitals “because the supplier has not been paid”; </li><li>Charlotte Maxeke has adopted a “first 500” rule whereby all patients are turned away after the first 500 have drawn their medicines from the pharmacy, because 15 of the pharmacy’s 20 posts have been “frozen”; and </li><li>East London Hospital Complex, one of the Eastern Cape’s referral hospitals, has only two full-time psychiatrists attending to about 12455 outpatients a year, excluding in-patients, outreach and community services. </li><li>The province has only 14 state-employed psychiatrists. </li></ul>Dr June Fabian, a senior specialist at Charlotte Maxeke, said there was sufficient money in the health system for functional hospitals, but “poor leadership and mismanagement of funds” had created “a crisis of care”. She said the Western Cape was the only province in which state hospital care was not yet in crisis. “The Western Cape health (department) has focused on developing their primary and secondary health-care systems and has a very tight referral system to the academic centres. This reduces the influx of primary-level care patients to big centres. The chaos at Bara exists because the primary-care centres in Soweto are poorly functional (and) there is no intermediate care facility in Soweto,” she said. An audit commissioned in 2007 by the Association of Surgeons shows that mid-level public-sector doctors earned 65% of equivalent-level magistrates and engineers in government employment. Senior surgeons and specialists earn almost half (52%) that of judges and senior pilots of state-owned airlines. Intern doctors this week showed the Sunday Times pay slips that indicated that they took home less than R10000 a month, although some earned up to R14500 with 80 hours of monthly overtime pay. said that, as of Thursday this week, there was no life-saving oxygen at all in the hospital and no surgical gloves that fit surgeons hands, causing all surgery to be cancelled; <ul><li>Dr Tina Ingratta, a senior doctor at Johannesburg’s major hospitals, told the Sunday Times that one of her patients died of renal failure while stuck inside one of the many faulty lifts at the hospital Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Hospital (“Joburg General”) as doctors waited to receive him at the renal unit on the 9th floor. A panel of 33 junior doctors here said that “a colony of flies” lived inside the hospital’s caesarean section operating theatre, and that some patients had to be carried up stairs from operating theatres to ICU on stretchers or in wheelchairs due to lifts which have been defective for over a year; </li><li>Dr Jack Thomson, an intern at various Johannesburg hospitals, said all life saving equipment was defective in the emergency room at South Rand Hospital in Rosettenville as of Thursday this week -including both ventilators and a basic, heart-restarting “defibrulator” machine which even many gyms stock for their members. Thomson said premature babies died “very, very often” at Joburg General because there were only 8 to 10 ICU beds for babies; </li><li>The panel of junior doctors confirmed that Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto is regularly forced to “close” on weekends when it runs out of ventilators and space in its trauma wards; that it is so short of equipment that some doctors have been forced to use Biohazard Waste boxes as desks to write their scripts; and that it has frequent critical shortages of life-saving drugs like adrenaline and heparin; </li><li>Dr Thomas Hilton, a senior medical officer at Ngwelezane Hospital -the major trauma centre for northern KwaZuluNatal -said only three “or maximum four” of the hospital’s six operating theatres were working due to a “chronic staff shortage”. He said some foreign doctors worked shifts of up to 36 hours without pay -treating over 100 patients per shift -to keep the institution open, because the provincial Department of Health refused to appoint the needed more doctors; </li></ul> <ul><li>Professor Chris Szabo, head of clinical psychiatry at Wits, said staff at Tara Hospital were forced to use petty cash to buy bread and milk this week when "essential foodstuffs" ran out, while food was also not delivered to Sterkfontein Hospital in the past month; </li></ul>Motsoaledi told the Sunday Times yesterday that he would “not try to dispute what doctors have been telling you. Unfortunately, I know those serious problems are possible.” He said he had listed “financial management” as the first of his department’s four priority areas for urgent action. He said there was no need for some doctors to strike or leave the service because “we acknowledge their remuneration is not satisfactory. I apologise for the delay of almost 12 months with this problem, and there is a willingness and a determination on government’s part to resolve this issue as speedily as possible.” Fidel Hadebe, a spokesman for the department, said an offer of improved pay and conditions was currently “on the table” with the SA Medical Association, but refused to discuss the details. However, Ingratta said: “Ten to 15% of my fellow registrars will definitely leave the sector this year if anything like that deal is accepted. It’s a total joke — it actually represents a net cut in our salary.” The government is offering doctors a one-off payment and to phase in increases over a period of time. But, in essence, what government is offering would still be far less then what the SA Medical Association is demanding — an effective 50% increase. Professor Mac Luhkele, chief negotiator for the Sama, said independent studies showed that there were “big differences” between the two parties. He warned that conditions were not improving and “we are going to lose a lot of doctors if this isn’t solved soon”. The Sama and other unions are now hoping for political intervention in the negotiations and, together with Cosatu, will meet with the ministers of health, public service and administration and the treasury on Wednesday to come up with a proposal that will hopefully resolve the matter. Lukhele said industrial action was a last resort, as government would not be the ones suffering, but the poor and sick who cannot afford medical aid. “We are not unreasonable. Legally or not legally, what do we do when we are being ignored? ” said Lukhele. The CEO of National Hospital Network, Otto Wypkema, said: “Unless we have more doctors, both the private sector and the public-sector health services will crumble to the point of no return. “It is appalling that doctors, dentists and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) personnel should be kept waiting for nine months since June 2008 for promised salary adjustments.

SA hospitals in crisis again, still, whatever

South Africa’s state hospitals are in crisis — and at risk of collapse. Underpaid doctors are working up to 36-hour shifts without pay, oper...

3:04 PM

Gauteng government R50-m hospital food debt crisis

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCRQtBX5h0JG8wSiLYpBVvxCdoFmQV_qeaUPcFt0DApYcZBPNr3HTEJ_H_cvKOfTdv3gBIABUHo0WMaq962VjiMQpQYMCSYeeX__rvdJq_KuNMEF7el1H7SpTh_8p1X0u4Ebou7v-HgDpR/s1600-h/mot-consistency.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5338428111770359890" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCRQtBX5h0JG8wSiLYpBVvxCdoFmQV_qeaUPcFt0DApYcZBPNr3HTEJ_H_cvKOfTdv3gBIABUHo0WMaq962VjiMQpQYMCSYeeX__rvdJq_KuNMEF7el1H7SpTh_8p1X0u4Ebou7v-HgDpR/s320/mot-consistency.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 268px" /></a>Hospitals in Gauteng owe millions of rands to food supply and distribution companies - with some city institutions being the worst culprits. One of the worst Pretoria hospital debt offenders is George Mukhari Hospital near Ga-Rankuwa, which owes the Midland Meat company R765 000. The hospital, which is now securing other suppliers, is also believed to owe hundreds of thousands of rands to other food suppliers. Weskoppies Psychiatric Hospital in Pretoria held a fete on Saturday in an attempt to raise desperately needed funds. Hospital staff say the money generated by the event is desperately needed so that the cash-strapped hospital can function properly. Midland Meat says Weskoppies owes it R230 000. The company has now stopped supplying the institution until it is paid. According to sources the Pretoria News has spoken to, the amount owed to the food companies by the provincial government is close to R50-million. It appears that no plans have been made for the province to settle its debts. Finance MEC Mandla Nkomfe's April 14 deadline for all payments to be made has come and gone, and hospitals, according to former food suppliers, are now tendering with new suppliers and distributors. Documents and emails in the Pretoria News's possession from city hospitals confirm a huge debt and show that companies are withholding supplies. In an email Steve Biko Academic Hospital chief executive Dr Ernest Kenoshi confirmed to the DA's Jack Bloom that contracted suppliers had stopped supplies to the hospital. "Yes, it is true that contracted suppliers of baby formula milk, bread and meat have stopped supplies, giving as a reason long overdue payments through the GSSC system. See - <a class="entry-title-link" closure_hashcode_cqjm2c="904" href="http://www.thetimes.co.za/News/Article.aspx?id=1003657" target="_blank">Still no baby formula for HIV mothers </a><a class="entry-title-link" closure_hashcode_cqjm2c="718" href="http://www.thetimes.co.za/News/Article.aspx?id=1004685" target="_blank">Mother feeds baby black tea </a> "However, there are no shortages of these items in the hospitals as we have activated our contingency plans to keep patients fed all meals by obtaining deliveries from other suppliers. "We are in constant discussions with the suppliers on a daily basis and also working daily with GSSC to expedite payments." The GSSC is the Gauteng Shared Services Centre which falls under the provincial Finance Department and deals with all supplies to hospitals. Another Pretoria hospital seeking new food suppliers is Kalafong Hospital, near Atteridgeville. A letter from the hospital superintendent, Dr Lancelot Phalatsi, to the Gauteng Health Department's services branch acting head, Dr P Maduna, lists 12 companies that have stopped supplying the hospital. Phalatsi, in his March letter, says: "This is not an exhaustive list; we are still working on a complete report." A memo from the hospital's procurement department, which is attached to the letter, states: "As can be seen, all these companies supply food and therefore have a direct impact towards patients. "The following are just a few (companies) that continuously query their account with us … please find copies of our commitment register to the GSSC of orders that we sent from November 2008 until today that are still not paid." Andre Hattingh, Midland Meat's hospital tender accountant, said they were owed R3.4 million from deliveries to 30 Gauteng hospitals dating back to 2007. "Of this money R1.7 million is from Pretoria hospitals. "The department has given us every excuse imaginable for not paying us," he said. Hattingh said the city's worst offending hospitals were George Mukhari Hospital, which owed R765 000; Steve Biko Academic Hospital (R239 000); Weskoppies Hospital (R230 000); Kalafong Hospital (R163 000); and Jubilee Hospital (R114 000). He said they had stopped deliveries and would only restart them once payments had been received. Seef le Roux, Mageu Number One's financial executive, whose company has stopped deliveries to Kalafong, Weskoppies and Steve Biko Academic hospitals, said they had had problems since they had first tendered for the hospital food contract four years ago. The company supplies Mageu, a maize drink product. "We are owed R80 000 and so far we have written off R40 000 worth of debt and are looking at writing off more debt. "The department's excuses are ridiculous and we will stop further deliveries if we are not paid," he said. Bloom said the payments disaster had to be sorted out. "We need to ask why the provincial government is not paying its debts as we cannot have hospitals making alternative arrangements only to run into debt again because the province can't pay," he said. Despite promising to respond to questions e-mailed, the Gauteng Health Department failed to comment by the time of going to print. See also - <a href="http://www.sabcnews.com/portal/site/SABCNews/menuitem.5c4f8fe7ee929f602ea12ea1674daeb9/?vgnextoid=6bf4b7a2ab761210VgnVCM10000077d4ea9bRCRD&vgnextfmt=default" title="Gauteng baby formula backlog cleared">Gauteng baby formula backlog cleared</a>

Gauteng government R50-m hospital food debt crisis

Hospitals in Gauteng owe millions of rands to food supply and distribution companies - with some city institutions being the worst culprits....

11:22 AM

Outrage as Manto lands top health job

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl4FOrHpU5vSIrR8v0MIrZye2JqYD-Z34w8zbrW9GaJAJlzkjePMvjyAyCop_rTQlm1w4ShQDn45rvV8p1xl5FjhkVB605chVY3s6PssgpAW9AwYKEX8RitHeE9gPBBjMsLfBvAQvSMNML/s1600-h/manto%2520Incapable%2520Idiot.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5336430048971228930" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl4FOrHpU5vSIrR8v0MIrZye2JqYD-Z34w8zbrW9GaJAJlzkjePMvjyAyCop_rTQlm1w4ShQDn45rvV8p1xl5FjhkVB605chVY3s6PssgpAW9AwYKEX8RitHeE9gPBBjMsLfBvAQvSMNML/s400/manto%2520Incapable%2520Idiot.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 191px" /></a>Controversial former health minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang has been rescued from life in the backbenches of parliament to serve instead as the guardian of mother and child health in Africa. Health experts and lobby groups reacted with shock on Friday at the news that Tshabalala-Msimang is now African Union Goodwill Ambassador and Champion for the Improvement of Maternal and Child Health in Africa beyond 2015. Many were reduced to tears, others warned that Tshabalala-Msimang would now endanger the health of the entire continent rather than just South Africa. After serving in the health portfolio for almost a decade, to which she was controversially re-appointed in 2004 by former president Thabo Mbeki, she was moved to Minister in the Presidency last year, when Mbeki was sacked. She was replaced by Barbara Hogan, now Minister of Public Enterprises - a move that earned the ANC great praise from health pressure groups at the time. Treatment Action Campaign General Secretary Vuyiseka Dubula on Friday said she was "shocked" by Tshabalala-Msimang's latest appointment. "She has done very badly in this country (with respect to improving mother and child health), and now she is going to destroy the whole continent," Dubula said. She said 400 out of every 100 000 mothers die each year in South Africa because they do not get proper after-birth care, and this had got worse under Tshabalala-Msimang's watch. "Women are dying in our hospitals because of poor health care," she said. She said she could not understand why African Union leaders would want to appoint her to such a position. Another expert who works in the field said "I just feel like crying" upon hearing the news of Tshabalala-Msimang's recent appointment, adding that although she cannot do much damage in her new position, a more competent person could have done a lot of good. She said the African Union probably had certain political reasons for appointing South Africa's former health minister, who pushed very strongly for a women and child agenda while in the Presidency. President of the Pan-African Parliament Gertrude Mongella is in a similar position, being Goodwill Ambassador for the World Health Organisation's Africa region, but because she is a competent operator, she gets things done, the expert said. Tshabalala-Msimang would in this capacity also be involved in the finalisation of AU documents about reproductive health care, women's rights and nutrition. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVyEgIND6gInjWF4x5AFN6qKSGS9eGYlFMBSiAgDn2vErlXj7_i3RM8QkDbnKYtVICrfksbQ3pyRMeymhdn3oBs-mdI4ZyrbMJtGGAUQdTOmfli3QfRVKtzOgaKJlAucmqixVkh4VgRrFm/s1600-h/mbeki-farmer.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5336430257347205650" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVyEgIND6gInjWF4x5AFN6qKSGS9eGYlFMBSiAgDn2vErlXj7_i3RM8QkDbnKYtVICrfksbQ3pyRMeymhdn3oBs-mdI4ZyrbMJtGGAUQdTOmfli3QfRVKtzOgaKJlAucmqixVkh4VgRrFm/s400/mbeki-farmer.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 216px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" /></a>Her former spokesperson, Charity Bhengu, could not be contacted on Friday, but it is understood that Tshabalala-Msimang will continue in the AU position, even though she is not a minister anymore. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAtzr93WIpPW5o3vns7PPsO_UeHJsjnJX_dopEAYWKUVwGQROJZWx_Ll6exmkzdKxEf6_MzvRhGZ6BTaiemz8hmG6CGI4AQDknQUPL-ZtPAT_IQahETh52ScyWCG7tzssbHmOj-beepacj/s1600-h/mantoprotest.bmp"></a>Tshabalala-Msimang, championing beetroot and garlic as a cure for Aids, was seen as the ambassador of Mbeki's denialist stance on the disease, which, according to experts, contributed to the high rate of mother and child deaths. According to Health e-News the rate of mothers and children dying have increased under Tshabalala-Msimang to exceed figures for before 1994. South Africa is one of only a few countries that will not meet the United Nations Millennium Development goal for reducing these rates by three-quarters by 2015. Another expert said South Africa was one of only 10 out of 190 countries where the rate for mother and child mortality was actually getting worse.

Outrage as Manto lands top health job

Controversial former health minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang has been rescued from life in the backbenches of parliament to serve instead a...

7:01 AM

Zuma Cabinet bad news - Zille

Pretoria - President <a class="twelvered" href="http://www.whoswhosa.co.za/Pages/profilefull.aspx?IndID=927" target="_blank">Jacob Zuma</a>'s new Cabinet is bad news for South Africa, Democratic Alliance leader <a class="twelvered" href="http://www.whoswhosa.co.za/Pages/profilefull.aspx?IndID=3528" target="_blank">Helen Zille</a> said on Sunday. Zille said although several "serial under-performers" of the <a class="twelvered" href="http://www.whoswhosa.co.za/Pages/profilefull.aspx?IndID=895" target="_blank">Thabo Mbeki</a> era had been dropped, others had been retained and in some instances "moved to crucial portfolios". "With few exceptions, President Jacob Zuma's new Cabinet is bad news for South Africa," Zille said. <img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5334288118216062098" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU0kCirViZ6JIItMiYZxm0XOpneAyNn3AxnK2wQHnG8wMAAn1WDYZQMYAL49Wc9e3ezazQO77LZ9dqnwIKoLZdH35GpgshuTqtnJv44Eeb3qWC6vz3N_5cmTSq6xIjgBjToGJUyIJqoE5d/s400/zuma-in-my-cabinet.jpg" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" /> "In addition a host of sinecure deputy ministries have been created, more to solve the ANC's internal political problems at taxpayers' expense, than to add value to service delivery." Zille said Zuma's decision to revamp the structure of Cabinet raised more questions than it provided answers. "It remains to be seen whether the splitting of certain portfolios and the creation of a planning commission within the Presidency will have any positive effect on service delivery," she said. National Planning Commission The Cabinet had grown substantially in size, to 34 ministers, adding a significant cost and administrative burden. Of particular importance was the creation of a National Planning Commission based in the Presidency, Zille said. "While the DA welcomes the appointment of <a class="twelvered" href="http://www.whoswhosa.co.za/Pages/profilefull.aspx?IndID=918" target="_blank">Trevor Manuel</a> as the head of the commission, we will fiercely resist any attempts by this Ministry or the newly created Co-operative Governance Ministry to undermine the constitutionally entrenched autonomy of the three spheres of government." "We will also watch two critical new appointments very closely, namely that of <a class="twelvered" href="http://www.whoswhosa.co.za/Pages/profilefull.aspx?IndID=1930" target="_blank">Ebrahim Patel</a> as the head of the newly created Ministry of Economic Development and that of <a class="twelvered" href="http://www.whoswhosa.co.za/Pages/profilefull.aspx?IndID=2200" target="_blank">Pravin Gordhan</a> as the new Minister of Finance. Economic policy "We hope that these appointments do not herald a departure from sound macro-economic policy-making and implementation, and that there will not be a radical overhaul of economic policy, simply to appease Cosatu (the Congress of SA Trade Unions) and the SA Communist Party. "President Zuma is heavily indebted to both these organisations for his political resurrection. The Cabinet is clearly structured to repay these debts. If Zuma threatened international investor confidence by repaying political debts, it would be a serious setback for South Africa's attempts to weather the global financial crisis and establish a sound basis for future investment and economic growth, Zille said. "It remains to be seen how much power the new Economic Development Department is granted, and to what extent this power may infringe on the previous responsibilities of the Department of Finance. "If the Department of Finance has been downgraded to the role of mere budget-making, then this move constitutes a real concern." Education Of particular concern was the appointment of <a class="twelvered" href="http://www.whoswhosa.co.za/Pages/profilefull.aspx?IndID=2355" target="_blank">Angie Motshekga</a> as Minister of Basic Education and <a class="twelvered" href="http://www.whoswhosa.co.za/Pages/profilefull.aspx?IndID=4324" target="_blank">Blade Nzimande</a> as Minister of Higher Education, Zille said. "Angie Motshekga is known for her infamous statement, in defence of (ANC Youth league leader) Julius Malema, that an education is not a necessary requirement for leadership. "Blade Nzimande, as the Minister of Higher Education, is a Marxist ideologue, whose appointment raises concerns about the future of higher education in a global knowledge economy." Zille said the DA was relieved that there was no place in the Zuma Cabinet for a number of ministers from the previous administration, <a class="twelvered" href="http://www.whoswhosa.co.za/Pages/profilefull.aspx?IndID=903" target="_blank">Manto Tshabalala-Msimang</a>, <a class="twelvered" href="http://www.whoswhosa.co.za/Pages/profilefull.aspx?IndID=921" target="_blank">Ngconde Balfour</a>, <a class="twelvered" href="http://www.whoswhosa.co.za/Pages/profilefull.aspx?IndID=2158" target="_blank">Mandisi Mpahlwa</a> and <a class="twelvered" href="http://www.whoswhosa.co.za/Pages/profilefull.aspx?IndID=900" target="_blank">Charles Nqakula</a>, whose tenures were "nothing short of disastrous". "It is however, lamentable that <a class="twelvered" href="http://www.whoswhosa.co.za/Pages/profilefull.aspx?IndID=2168" target="_blank">Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula</a> has been shifted to the critical portfolio of Correctional Services when her time as Minister of Home Affairs saw her lurch lethargically from one crisis to another." Certain appointments raised alarm bells for Zille. One of these was the appointment of <a class="twelvered" href="http://www.whoswhosa.co.za/Pages/profilefull.aspx?IndID=2169" target="_blank">Susan Shabangu</a> as Minister of Mining. Mining was a critical industry for South Africa's long-term economic growth. Barbara Hogan 'punished' Another concern was the shifting of the highly effective Barbara Hogan from health to Public Enterprises. This appeared to be punishment for her outspoken comments on the Dalai Lama, Zille said. The appointment of <a class="twelvered" href="http://www.whoswhosa.co.za/Pages/profilefull.aspx?IndID=897" target="_blank">Jeff Radebe</a> to the exceptionally important Justice Ministry was also a worry. "Radebe has left a great deal of mess for his successor at the Department of Transport to deal with and it is unlikely that he will perform any better at the Department of Justice. "Shabangu's appointment is concerning, given her woeful tenure as Deputy Minister of Minerals and Energy." Zille said the Cabinet needed to be given time before its performance could be properly judged. "The DA, for its part, will watch each of these ministries very closely and hold them to account for any misstep. "We will do everything in our power to ensure that each new minister respects the Constitution and that corruption and mismanagement is appropriately dealt with," she said.

Zuma Cabinet bad news - Zille

Pretoria - President Jacob Zuma 's new Cabinet is bad news for South Africa, Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille said on Sunday. Zil...

12:49 PM

South Africa P.I.G.