Towards a workable plan

The involvement of civil society is a critical component of a workable plan.

By Vuyokazi Gonyela, SECTION27

A key ingredient to ensuring our response to the AIDS and TB epidemics is effective, is having a workable plan. To that end, consultants and experts are working furiously to make sure South Africa has a new National Strategic Plan (NSP) to take us through to 2022.

But we know what is said about South Africa and our plans and policies: Full marks for great plans and policies; fail for implementation. The involvement of civil society is a critical component of a

workable plan. Established civil society structures already exist within the various AIDS councils at national, provincial and municipal (local or community) level but there is an unequal distribution of resources from the councils to these structures, which, in turn, means they struggle to get work done and to participate meaningfully in processes.

South Africa’s response to the HIV/AIDS, TB and Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI) epidemics requires coordination and leadership from various accountability structures, including the South African National AIDS Council (SANAC). This body hosts the National Civil Society Forum (CSF), which monitors progress on the implementation of the NSP and holds government accountable on behalf of the users and practitioners in the health-care system.

Theoretically, national structures that manage the HIV/AIDS TB and STI response should function in a manner that provides both leadership and support to provincial and local structures. But, provincial and local bodies need to be just as empowered to hold the government accountable – even more so – on behalf of the health-care users on the ground.

Despite this theoretical commitment to the development and strengthening of provincial structures, little has been done to provide these structures with the resources and authority that they need.

In provinces like the Eastern Cape, the struggles and difficulties are clearly visible. The province has struggled to implement strategies to respond to HIV/AIDS, which has left the community at a great disadvantage. Among the factors that impact negatively on the work to be done, is poor leadership. In the Eastern Cape, for example, the former elected CSF chairperson was last seen in 2015. This critical position was left unattended because the leader had other interests that compromised, not only the forum, but the entire provincial mandate.

The intervention campaign and strategies also need to adapt and respond to new data. Recent statistics indicate that the prevalence of HIV/AIDS has shifted from adolescents to young women and girls: the stats show about 2,363 new infections weekly in South Africa, with AYWG accounting for almost 1,750 of these infections.

The goal to end HIV/AIDS by 2030 is far from being realised, particularly because there is little investment in developing young leaders and creating more active citizens. They have a big role to pay and are central in our response to HIV if we truly want to deliver on the rhetoric of ending AIDS.

A further concern is that women are grossly under-represented within provincial leadership sectors tackling HIV. Across the nine provinces, the leadership is mainly dominated by men. Provincial CSF chairpersons sit on the Provincial Councils on AIDS as co-chairpersons; seven of the nine provincial chairs are male. The Eastern Cape took a bold stand in September 2016 and elected the first woman as a CSF chairperson. No attention is paid to this.

The voices of many women are suppressed in their households, communities and in leadership structures. Provincial AIDS structures need to take the lead, transform themselves, and support capacity-building female leadership as a critical investment, not only for the provinces but for the country. Nothing less will do.