ADDRESS BY
MANGOSUTHU BUTHELEZI, MP
INKOSI OF THE BUTHELEZI CLAN
CHAIRMAN OF THE HOUSE OF TRADITIONAL LEADERS
(KWAZULU NATAL) AND UNDUNANKULU KAZULU
Ulundi : September 20, 2002
I welcome the opportunity to meet with amaKhosi and their people to
discuss our plans and tactics in the midst of the ever-raging battle
against HIV/AIDS. As the leaders of their people, the actions and words of
amaKhosi significantly determine the path and pace according to which we
move. I thank God that our traditional leaders appreciate the severity and
urgency of the threat we face over HIV/AIDS, and have opened this platform
from which we may discuss our reality and decide how best we may change it.
I encourage each of our communities to listen closely, not only with their
ears, but with their hearts. In having gathered us together today, the
message being sent is that this matter is urgent, it affects all of us and
it must be dealt with in whatever way can meet with success. A change of
heart can often lead to a change of action, and changed action leads to
changed circumstance. If we want to change our reality of pervasive
HIV/AIDS, we must be prepared to engage our hearts, and to act.
The facts and figures have been known to us,
even in the most rural areas, for long enough. We have embarked on
information campaigns through mass media, in our schools and on our
campuses, to stem the tide of this disease by exposing the truth about what
HIV/AIDS is, how one contracts it, how one prevents the possibility of
contracting it and what one does to live with this disease while still
enjoying a good quality of life. Armed with the facts, we hoped our people
would be equipped to make the right personal decisions. Yet the battle is
still raging and there are too many already affected and too many still
being infected every day for us to hope that a single line of approach could
be successful. It is time for us to step up the fight and highlight every
facet of this disease, from its implications for the future we are trying to
build, to its implications for our human interaction and relationships
which, in the end, are quintessential to our failure or success as a nation.
One of the most important aspects of the
fight against HIV/AIDS which has yet to be highlighted effectively, is that
of removing the stigma. HIV/AIDS is a disease, contracted through
sexual contact, just like cholera is a disease contracted by drinking impure
water. Scientifically, it is nothing different to any disease contracted through
certain actions or exposure. Although someone may have been told that their
water source may be contaminated, and although they may know the link
between drinking contaminated water and contracting cholera, no one deserves
to get cholera. In the same way, no one deserves to get HIV/AIDS. But anyone
who has contracted it needs to face the harsh reality of death, and this is
not something to be endured alone. Those facing the reality of untimely
death must be assisted in overcoming the initial shock, and loved through
the trauma of dying. This is basic knowledge of the heart.
If we think a little further about it though,
we are faced with the years in between the determination of HIV positive
status and death. During these years, HIV positive individuals must live
with family, friends and colleagues who will react differently to them. It
is a sad truth that many people are afraid to be tested for HIV because they
simply do not want to face up to the reality of their family and friends
knowing they have HIV/AIDS.
We cannot allow shame to attach to HIV
positive status. Within our work-places, community centres and homes we need
to re-educate ourselves about HIV/AIDS, not rejecting sufferers out of hand,
but recognising the sorrow, frustration and fear, and wanting to be a part
of the solution. Support, compassion and care will help remove the sorrow
and frustration of HIV/AIDS sufferers, but we must deal swiftly and finally
with the fear attached to this disease.
Most often we fear things because we do not
know the facts. Factual information removes the element of the unknown. I
encourage you not to be afraid. Be open about your HIV positive status. It
is important that you tell your wife and openly share this information with
your loved ones. HIV must be something we discuss in our homes and in our
families, not in the abstract, but with honesty and frankness. Bring your
HIV positive status into the open and discuss it with those around you. You
will have questions and your loved ones will have questions, but until you
are free enough to talk openly it will be difficult to cope with the
pressure of unspoken anxieties. HIV positive people can cope with having
HIV/AIDS. HIV negative people can cope with their friend’s disease. But we
have to speak openly about it. Our attitude towards this disease and towards
those infected, is crucial to how we handle this difficult reality. Our
attitude must be based on the facts.
The blatant fact is that HIV positive people
are not dead yet. I cannot tolerate the mentality that treats them as living
ghosts. In fact, HIV positive individuals are still able to be productive
and are capable of giving a valuable contribution to society and their
community. They are still human beings with unique talents, aspirations,
needs and potential. Talented singers who are HIV positive can still sing.
Likewise, gifted writers can still write. Benevolent caretakers can still
nurture, heal and counsel. Teachers can still teach. Entrepreneurs can still
do business. Leaders can still serve. There is no need for HIV to rob the
life that remains to be lived, even though AIDS shortens the days. It has
been said that the highest concentration of human potential in any one
place, is in a graveyard. Let us prevent this from becoming our own reality
by encouraging, assisting and empowering HIV positive people through our own
right attitudes.
Sadly, the debate around HIV/AIDS has not yet
moved out of the arena of ‘us and them’. Every campaign talks about
people who are HIV positive, how we can help those who are suffering and
what we should do to prevent contracting HIV. Yet, if we are to be honest
about the present reality, one in every four of us is HIV positive. That
means this is our reality, not the reality of other people. This disease is
our problem, not a problem of the government or the health sector. I want to
make it clear that anyone can contract HIV. I am not immune to this disease
and you are not immune to it. HIV/AIDS does not respect your position in
life. It does not respect your bank balance, your good intentions, your age,
your marital status or your level of education. The battle against HIV/AIDS
should therefore engage every one of us, and every individual must give
their contribution by becoming informed, informing others and making
personal choices of responsibility and respect.
But the greatest contribution this battle
requires today, is compassion put into action. If you are one of the
fortunate three, your first responsibility is to stay healthy. But that is
not the end of it. The next equally important responsibility is to assist
those who are in need with emotional, psychological, spiritual and physical
support. As human beings, our lives and destinies are inextricably
intertwined with those of our neighbour. We need to cultivate the ability to
reach out to those in need, rather than crouching inwardly away from the
horror of HIV/AIDS. We are fighting HIV/AIDS side by side and we must become
aware of the magnitude and significance of this battle. This battle is set
to overshadow any our ancestors fought in the past. In fact, unchecked now,
AIDS will kill more people in this country than all the wars combined which
the Zulu nation and other people of this province fought on this territory
since the beginning of recorded time.
There is greater urgency in the call to
battle against HIV/AIDS than in any before it. There is more at stake, for
the outcome will affect not only a group of people for a limited time, but
every one of us living in South Africa far into our collective future. The
death of our young people, our babies and parents have far-reaching
repercussions. Not only is our work-force being depleted, but it is also
losing strength for productivity. This will have as yet immeasurable
economic consequences on both the micro and macro economic level, as
households lose their breadwinners and South Africa loses its workers. We
know the devastation will be vast in the wake of HIV/AIDS. But our
commitment to the fight against this disease today will determine the depth
of the tragedy we will face tomorrow.
We must step up the fight against this
disease on every level, from every angle. Science is racing to find a cure,
but as things stand there is no known cure for HIV/AIDS. Even as science
moves forward in the treatment of this disease and gives us better, more
accurate information, there is still a great deal of despicable superstition
around HIV/AIDS within our communities. Now listen to what I am about to
say. Rape does not cure HIV/AIDS. Rape cannot cure HIV/AIDS. It cannot make
you better. It cannot prolong your life. It cannot help you in any way. Rape
is a despicable act committed by brutish cowards. I will not tolerate the
sheer disrespect and malevolence it displays. Having sexual intercourse with
a virgin will not cure HIV/AIDS. It cannot change an HIV positive status
into an HIV negative status. Rape and sex with virgins will only cause the
spread of HIV and the death of more people from AIDS.
These are facts we must pronounce loudly so
that everyone hears the truth. There are certain actions which I just cannot
tolerate among our communities. Those who knowingly infect people out of
their own rage and brokenness cannot secure the understanding or acceptance
they seek. You are creating a barrier which no amount of need can bridge. I
know that within anyone who is ill or suffering there is a tremendous need
for someone to understand and care. But HIV infected individuals have a
fundamental responsibility not to infect other people. You must tell your
partner you have HIV/AIDS and allow them to make their own decision about
their sexual interactions with you.
I realise that today it is regarded as stupid
for anyone to have sexual intercourse without the use of prophylactics, such
as condoms. But we as leaders of our people have a greater responsibility
than to talk only about that, important as it is. As traditional leaders, it
is our duty to uphold the customs and traditions of our people. We as a
people had strong morals because we had a moral code in accordance with
which we conducted ourselves. Sex was not something to play with. Full
sexual intercourse was forbidden between people before they were married.
While people were unmarried, it meant that although they were free to engage
in heavy petting, there was a point beyond which one could not go.
The foundation of this was that we respected
each other. We observed the same law as that which Christians are taught -
to do unto others as you would like them to do unto you. Because we
respected each other, it was a shame to force another man's daughter to have
full sexual relations before marriage. It was described as entering another
man's cattle kraal not through the gate. So I would think that while we must
also speak about prophylactics, we as amaKhosi, Makgosi, Barena, Mahosi,
should go beyond just that and look more seriously at whether it is not
possible to embrace some of our norms and in particular our own moral codes.
We have a duty to do that. It is in fact our duty as leaders to remind our
people of where we come from as a people, and why it is important to look at
the pandemic of HIV/AIDS in the context of our moral codes. It is difficult
for a Zulu man to talk to children on matters of sex. It was something
adults spoke about to more grown up children, who in turn would warn young
ones as their moral guardians about the risks and dangers of promiscuity.
It is not wrong to advise people to use
prophylactics, but it is wrong to speak about it without condemning
promiscuity. We were not a promiscuous people even before our people became
Christian proselytes. It would be a dereliction of our duty as Traditional
Leaders if we spoke about how to avoid contracting sexually transmitted
diseases, without reminding young people of our moral standards and our
moral codes as African people. I quite sympathise with the viewpoint which
the Catholic Church upholds on this matter. Here in the Kingdom of the Zulu,
before our conquest, people were set up into Regiments and were given
permission through Royal decree of the King, when to prepare to get married.
Unlike in our generation there were no illegitimate children, let alone
these diseases of civilisation.
In South Africa we are facing issues of life
and death every day, in every community, at every age. We must face up to
this fact with the appropriate sobriety and courage, affording the reality
of HIV/AIDS the priority status it demands. This is not something we can
talk away or teach away. Right action must follow if we are to defeat
HIV/AIDS. I myself became tired of all the talk without action. Words cannot
express my unutterable grief when I see in a young man or woman’s eyes the
knowledge of coming death. These are people full of potential, beautiful
human beings, whose contribution to our collective life will be limited and
cut short. More deeply wounding than this, is to see a baby, for whom the
gift of life is not yet fully revealed, having life taken from it by a
disease contracted through its mother. The maternal instinct urges a mother
to protect her child, to nurture and provide for it. HIV/AIDS savages the
bond between mother and child. In the moment of birth, she has given her
baby certain death.
These are terrible, terrible images to
contemplate. Yet they are the reality of HIV/AIDS. It is for this reason
that I myself investigated the various aspects of this disease and sought
scientific avenues to protect those most vulnerable and innocent. At my
suggestion, KwaZulu Natal began to offer Nevirapine to HIV positive pregnant
women. The administering of anti-retrovirals will significantly decrease the
number of women passing their HIV status on to their babies during birth.
Babies who would have died, will now live. The possibility of life is a
precious gift, which is not so much an honour as a duty to bestow.
Therefore, I caused our Province to join the Treatment Action Campaign in
its legal challenge against national Government to make anti-retroviral
drugs available in hospitals throughout South Africa. I know that our battle
is not limited to KwaZulu Natal. Our responsibility reaches throughout South
Africa to every man, woman and baby who are affected by this disease.
Whether immediately or collaterally, this includes everyone.
We have won a victory in favour of life. For
the Nevirapine programme to work, however, women must take the
responsibility to have themselves tested for HIV/AIDS before giving birth.
If you test HIV positive, ask for Nevirapine. Once you have Nevirapine, take
it according to the instructions. Nevirapine can save your baby’s life.
You need to use it.
Already we face a pressing need for
people to fill the gap left by those who are dying prematurely. When a
productive young person dies, someone must take up their work. When a mother
dies, someone must look after her child. When a father dies, someone must
support his family. There are very few people who have not yet come face to
face with the reality of HIV/AIDS. At this stage, we know our enemy.
We know that indiscriminate sexual intercourse opens the possibility of
contracting HIV. We know that halting the spread of this disease may demand
a change in lifestyle, attitude and preference. We know there will be a
sacrifice.
The choice of abstinence is the only
absolutely assured way of remaining HIV negative, but we must face
the reality that a message of abstinence will not elicit this lifestyle
choice from everyone. In fact, the frustrating reality is that there
are still people who forgo using condoms even after hearing the message to
condomise. This is madness. But we cannot make choices for each other. Every
individual must make the choice for themselves of whether they will
act responsibly, and whether they will allow their attitude to be changed
by truth and compassion.
The role of our amaKhosi is to provide all
the information necessary to making an informed decision. Our amaKhosi are
also in a position to inspire right attitudes and right action. We need to
bring discussions on sex into public debate. We need to talk about how to
prolong one’s life and have a good quality of life even while HIV
positive. I encourage our amaKhosi to bring qualified doctors into our
communities to educate people on staying healthy. Maintaining a healthy
lifestyle includes physical exercise and following a balanced, nutritious
diet. Taking vitamins and immune boosters are also important. This is what
one should do. What one cannot do, is to use alcohol or drugs. Alcohol will
shorten the life-span of an HIV positive person, as will drugs. In other
words, alcohol will kill you.
Let us be open about these and other facts
with our children. The sooner they know how to protect themselves, the
better. Information is a vital element in the growth of a child. Let us be
open about the facts of life. But let us also offer them information on
youth leadership, on education, on fulfilling their aspirations, building
relationships, interacting across cultures and impacting their own
generation through ideas, the arts and media. Let us inspire our
children to live fully, not merely equip them to survive. I believe
we must find a balance within our nation. Let us meet pessimism with
optimism, need with goodwill and despair with the determination to bring
change. In this way, we may again tip the scales towards a future
which is as prosperous, stable, pluralistic and filled with hope as we ever
could have imagined.
Today, let us stand up and say with one voice
that HIV/AIDS will not defeat us. It will not stop us. It will not
cause us to lose faith. Let us be united in our fight against HIV/AIDS,
opening our hearts to change and cultivating the right attitude to secure
it. I trust that under the leadership of our amaKhosi, the communities
represented here today will begin to see our battle from a new
perspective. This is a battle we can win, but we need to win it
through openness and collective responsibility. I believe we are well
equipped. Let us step up the pace and do what is right. Let us beat
HIV/AIDS.
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