Mbeki not a candidate for genocide charges

My regulars know that I’m a fan of former president Thabo Mbeki and as such I thought it best that I give the rest of you the heads-up before starting this discussion. Of course that does not mean I am unaware of his faults, the worst of which was his administration’s approach to the question of HIV/Aids.

The fact that it was his administration and not just Mbeki alone which brought about the result is a feature of this issue that is far too often overlooked by those looking for a scapegoat. While he might be aloof (or dignified as I see it) he still acted very much within the restraints that the party, government and laws of the country placed upon him.

Accordingly he was no more able to set policy on his own than any other member of the ANC or government.

The route that they chose to go — outlined in this well thought out article by Frans Cronje — was an absolute shocker, the results of which are still being felt by the HIV/Aids community.

As Cronje points out, in terms of a recent extensive medical report on the topic, South Africa had 0.7% of the world’s population but 17% of people infected with HIV and Aids.

A staggering statistic when one has regard to the information age within which we live and the primitive approach that was adopted to meeting this terrible illness.

Moreover few of us who followed the progress on this issue will ever forget the government’s steadfast refusal to accept the weight of medical information that was piling up against their chosen policies.

Having said that, we live in a (supposedly) accountable society and someone or a number of individuals need to answer for that debacle. Cronje’s submission appears to be reasonable and will avoid the hysteria that answering questions seems to generate in South Africa :

“There is however another option open to the victims of the ANC’s HIV/Aids policies. That is to pursue class action-style civil claims against the government and the ANC for loss of breadwinner support and the like that resulted from deaths of their family members.” (Cronje)

In addition it does not seek to make Mbeki the sole scapegoat for every problem this country has.

Of course the Young Communist League has gone much further in calling for Mbeki and his health minister to be charged with genocide.

“Genocide” noun : the murder of a whole group of people, especially a whole nation, race or religious group. (Cambridge dictionary)

“Genocide”: 1948 United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. Article 2 of this convention defines genocide as “any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such: killing members of the group; causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life, calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; [and] forcibly transferring children of the group to another group”.

While the approach of the government to HIV/Aids may have been negligent, stubborn and even bloody-minded it was never their intention to harm the people of this country or any group hereof.

It is inconceivable that any judge will believe that the former administration deliberately set out to harm the sufferers. No doubt one might find that their refusal to listen to the leading experts on retroviruses or use the medicines recommended by doctors around the world makes them liable.

The key word is “might” and affords them the opportunity of setting out their thinking — lest we all judge too quickly.

As Cope president Mosiuoa Lekota has said, those suggesting Mbeki and his administration be charged with genocide are being irresponsible and distorting the history of our country.

Whichever way it goes it would be in all of our interests to stop using emotive words like genocide when dealing with this issue.

It really has no place here.