Enhancing the effectiveness of partnerships

The government is seeking partnerships in business and among civil sectors to fight the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Bongani Khumalo, strategic adviser for integrated sustainable rural development and HIV/AIDS in the Presidency, told a convention of the SA Institute of People Management in Johannesburg late last year [2001] that the HIV/AIDS pandemic is the most urgent strategic challenge facing South Africa.

"There is no doubt that HIV/AIDS has an adverse effect on productivity and poses a serious threat to economic growth and stability," he told the gathering.

Khumalo said that companies are confronting increased expenditure on health care, burial fees and training and recruitment because of AIDS; businesses are also facing decreased revenue as a result of absenteeism, labour turnover and reduced staff productivity.

Delegates agreed that employee benefit costs, such as disability income or lump-sum death benefits for infected staff, could double over the next ten years. There was recognition that Human Resources divisions have a key role to play in coping with issues such as the increased frequency of compassionate and funeral attendance leave, and the attendant despair and demotivation of their employees. There was also consensus amongst HR specialists that HIV/AIDS management programmes had to address ingrained preconceptions underpinning the epidemic and the creation of a non-discriminatory workplace environment; the removal of stigmatisation around the disease is seen as a critical success factor for any management response to HIV/AIDS.

Khumalo indicated after his address that the Presidency, with the backing of government, is seeking to enhance partnership with sectors of civil societies, including business, to address the challenges of HIV/AIDS. It was hoped that business could contribute strategic and management skills to the cause.

Leaders in private sector circles agreed that such partnerships were necessary, recognising both the magnitude of the threat that HIV/AIDS poses to the country's economy, and the lack of capacity of the part of government to address the problem on its own. Many corporates are working on or have established large-scale HIV/AIDS battle-plans for implementation within their workforces.

At a Cabinet meeting held early in May this year, government announced that it would hold a special meeting of the SA National AIDS Council to examine the role the Council and its partners could play in the fight against HIV/AIDS. The Council represents a wide range of activist groups, NGOs, civil servants and officials involved in countering the epidemic.