TAC congress elects new leaders, sets priorities

TAC congress elects new leaders, sets prioritiesDeputy President Cyril Ramaphosa accepts the iconic HIV positive t-shirt from TAC Deputy General Secretary Vuyokazi Gonyela, while General Secretary Anele Yawa looks on. Photo: Joyrene Kramer

The Treatment Action Campaign’s (TAC) 6th National Congress held in

Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa accepts the iconic HIV positive t-shirt from TAC Deputy General Secretary Vuyokazi Gonyela, while General Secretary Anele Yawa looks on. Photo: Joyrene Kramer

Sterkfontein, Gauteng  concluded today with the re-election of Anele Yawa as General Secretary and the election of Sibongile Tshabalala as Chairperson. Vuyokazi Gonyela was elected as Deputy General Secretary and Patrick Mdletshe was re-elected as Deputy Chairperson.

“The second phase of TAC’s struggle is for quality healthcare delivered through a well-functioning healthcare system where the dignity of all is respected and nobody is excluded,” read a TAC statement. It also said that “In 2017, the HIV and TB epidemics are far from over in South Africa and in many other countries. To bring an end to these epidemics we will require more healthcare workers and properly functioning healthcare systems. We will require a movement that politicises access to healthcare and that refuses to accept that some people can get quality treatment while others cannot”.

The congress, attended by representatives from close to 200 TAC branches from seven of South Africa’s nine provinces, made a long list of resolutions that will guide the organisation’s work over the next three years. Amongst others, the congress resolved to recommit to the empowerment of TAC branches and the reinvigoration of the organisation’s treatment literacy programme. It was also resolved that each of TAC’s branches must adopt a clinic and a school which they should monitor and engage with.

Earlier the congress was addressed by Deputy President of South Africa and chair of the South African National AIDS Council (SANAC) Cyril Ramaphosa. Ramaphosa said that “we must acknowledge that our health system is under great strain and that it is struggling to meet the needs of our people”. He also urged TAC to not to disengage from the SA National AIDS Council. The congress eventually resolved that TAC will remain in SANAC, but that the organisation will leave SANAC should its concerns regarding SANAC governance not be addressed with sufficient urgency and transparency. (Ramaphosa’s speech can be read in full here.)

The congress also earlier heard from Minister of Health Dr Aaron Motsoaledi who presented government’s plans on National Health Insurance. TAC resolved to continue its support of NHI while also raising concerns regarding certain aspects of NHI, such as the exclusion of foreign nationals and the exclusion of civil society from six of the seven recently announced NHI committees. TAC also undertook to assist patients who could not access appropriate treatment and care in the public sector to seek such treatment in the private sector. It was stressed that this would be done in a dignified and non-disruptive way.

The full list of TAC national leaders elected at the congress are as follows:

  • Chairperson – Sibongile Tshabalala
  • Deputy Chairperson – Patrick Mdletshe
  • General Secretary – Anele Yawa
  • Deputy General Secretary – Vuyokazi Gonyela
  • PLHIV Sector Representative – Andrew Mosane
  • Women’s Sector Representative – Thandi Maloka
  • LGBTQIA+ Sector Representative – Philemon Twala
  • Youth Sector Representative – Amelia Mfiki
  • Men’s Sector Representative – Pule Goqo

A full list of congress resolutions is available on the TAC website here.

Note: Spotlight is a joint publication of the Treatment Action Campaign and SECTION27. We have been granted substantial journalistic independence – which we guard jealously.