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Madiba urges 'love and care' for HIV/AIDS victims
Lindiz Van Zilla. Cape Times. 13 December 2002. Republished courtesy of Independent Newspapers (Pty) Ltd.
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Hundreds of Khayelitsha residents rejoiced and mingled with HIV-positive patients on Thursday at the Nolungile Clinic when Nelson Mandela visited and made an impassioned plea for "care and love" to be given to people living with HIV/AIDS.
Dancing throngs followed Mandela as he slowly made his way through the corridors of the clinic, stopping to chat to HIV/AIDS patients.
Kholiswa Ramncwana, 25, is one of the almost 200 people to receive anti-retroviral treatment at the clinic, which is run by Médecins sans Frontieres.
"There are a lot of people here in Khayelitsha who are sick with HIV/AIDS and I want treatment for all of them," she told Mandela.
Clutching the former president's hand, prominent HIV/AIDS activist Zackie Achmat welcomed "the greatest African leader" to Khayelitsha.
A visibly moved Mandela listened as Nosiseko Kopisane told of how she discovered her HIV status in 1999 when she was pregnant.
The crowd, squeezed into a marquee tent, fell silent as schoolgirl Babalwa Thembani related how in 1996 she was raped by her stepfather, who believed that doing this would cure him of HIV/AIDS.
Rendered HIV-positive, Thembani was disowned by her family and community and sought refuge in a hospice where she was told to "wait for the day when she would die".
In a touching moment, Matthew Damane, the first HIV/AIDS patient to be treated at the clinic, stepped forward to present Mandela with a white T-shirt with the words HIV-Positive emblazoned in purple across the chest.
To loud cheers, Mandela removed his trademark Madiba shirt and donned the T-shirt.
He then addressed the crowd and said "ignorance and arrogance" was standing in the way of reaching out to those with HIV/AIDS.
"People are dying because they have lost hope because no one is caring for them. We must all give them care and above all love."
His voice rising, Mandela said people who stigmatised HIV/AIDS patients are "not human beings".
"We must love, encourage and inspire people who are HIV-positive. This is the greatest contribution we can make in the fight against HIV/AIDS."
Mandela said he supported the government in its push for further research into anti-retrovirals but also warned that in doing so the government was "creating the impression that it does not care for children and young people who are dying".
He lauded the community project which has seen HIV/AIDS sufferers come forward to be treated at the clinic.
"I am an old man who has lost power and influence and is a has-been... maybe that is why people are keen to support me," Mandela said.
"I want to help financially, but you are young people and what little you can do to help, you must do." |
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