How bad is AIDS in South Africa really?

Original Post Date: 2003-10-28 Published on: ETHERZONE.COM&nbsp  Posted By: Jan

SubTitle: Could AIDS lead to a race War?

This is a question I ask myself, and the answer is a difficult one. In the analysis, “South Africa: Beyond Democracy” (Go to: www.AfricanCrisis.org/Photos.asp – it is at the bottom of the page), there are a number of reliable figures showing that HIV/AIDS varies across SA. The hardest hit areas are the Eastern Cape and Kwa-Zulu Natal where it is over 30%. According to that report AIDS will peak in 2015.

However, at times there are indication that AIDS could be even worse than in that report, and much worse than the SA Government will admit.

I am a regular blood donor, so I also chat to people when I donate blood. I have a personal suspicion that AIDS among whites is much less than among blacks. But it is hard to get figures on this since all AIDS stats are for all races. This could hide when AIDS is higher for blacks and lower for whites.

When I donated blood about 2 years ago, one nursing sister told me that they went to a factory in Vereeniging and asked 120 black workers there to donate blood. After the blood was tested they had to throw away 90 of the 120 pints.

But this does not mean all the blood was HIV(43)+. Maybe a lot of it was due to the blacks having other problems. I recently asked the SABTS (South African Blood Transfusion Centre) what tests they carry out on our donated blood. I was told that every pint of blood is tested for the following:- HIV, Sexually transmitted diseases, Hepatitis A & B and one’s Blood group.

There were some newspaper articles in SA saying that HIV/AIDS among whites might be in the region of 6%. Later there was a whole commotion about this, and then they printed new stories saying that AIDS was the same among all the race groups. If I ask my friends, if they know any whites who have died from AIDS, most of them don’t know anyone. I know one guy who has died from AIDS – and he was a gay. So I generally tend to believe that there might be a lower incidence of AIDS among whites – but what exactly it is – I don’t know. Apart from that newspaper story – no numbers were ever given out publicly here.

I do know, back in 1980, there was a study done in Europe, which was reported in some science magazines. The European scientists claimed that 9-11% of white people in Europe are immune to HIV – and there was a theory going around that maybe this was due to the Black Death centuries ago. If a small proportion of white people are immune to AIDS then it would make sense that infection rates among whites must be lower – by some degree. Exactly how much… is anyone’s guess.

My mother knows some old black ladies who used to work for her. One of them told her that all her children have died from AIDS and she is now raising all her grandchildren herself!!!

A friend told me that he knows someone who has a farm in the north of South Africa. They have 400 black workers on this farm. The owner decided to have them tested for HIV – and all 400 came back as HIV(43)+!!

This friend also knows a doctor who told him that about 80% of the patients in Government hospitals are all HIV(43)+. My own doctor told me of a hospital in Alberton where all the wards including the paediatric ward is filled with HIV(43)+ adults. The hospital is so full they don’t admit people any more. My own doctor said that something like 70% of the patients in Government hospitals are HIV(43)+.

These are examples of some of the stories I have heard from friends and co-workers.

There is one final story I’d like to tell.

I posted an article about AIDS on WWW.FreeRepublic.com recently. An American there told me the following story:-“Over 2 years ago, I posted on FR about a meeting I had with South African Health Ministry employees who informed me that in some areas, over half the people being tested were positive for HIV.”

“No one believe it and the post was soon deleted.”

I asked the American for more info and this was his reponse:- “I was off on the date I made the post. Only about 1 year and a half ago.”

“April 27, 2002 (124)| According to a high level source with the South African Health Ministry, 50% of all people tested in South Africa have tested HIV positive. The source also stated that the current president doesn’t believe that AIDS is caused by HIV and he will not allow photos of full blown AIDS victims to be used in a education drive promoting the use of condoms. It was noted that the rate of infection is still increasing.”

“Above is all I could find of the original post. It was soon pulled for some reason. As I said, the above comments are from 3 individuals with SA Ministry of health and seems your statement about the president saying, ‘he doesn’t know anyone who died of AIDS’, is consistent with what they were describing of the situation there.”

“Feel free to post anything I’ve said here on your web site. I still have their names but would not wish to release them for fear of their safety.”

The American’s statements are not that far fetched at all when I compare it to some of the things I have heard from family and friends.

I’m not saying 50% of South Africans are infected – but it is entirely possible that HIV infection rates are 10-20% higher than the official statistics they give us.

Our government seems to be completely in denial about the actual rates. I am sure part of the reason is political especially as this might cause a resurgence of white conservatism. There is a spiritual and political interpretation to AIDS which could yet cause tremendous racial conflict. There are a number of whites here who see AIDS as a “plague sent by God” and as an indication that “God is on our side”. Certain people see AIDS as a punishment for incorrect sexual practises by the blacks – polygamy still exists among blacks here, and it is common for people to sleep around with each other’s wives. AIDS in Africa is a heterosexual disease as opposed to the rest of the world where it affects gays the most. It is interesting that the worst infected region in the world, is Southern Africa. Furthermore, the country with the biggest AIDS infected population in the world is South Africa – even though, as countries go, we don’t have such a large population (about 44 million). So this tends to add to the “spiritual view” that AIDS was sent by God.

I am sure the Government is aware of this view, and hence keeps the real statistics of AIDS away from us because AIDS could help trigger a resurgence in White Conservatism. Indeed, the analysis I mentioned earlier “South Africa: Beyond Democracy”, by Dr Jan Du Plessis, basically outlines the theme that whites in South Africa are far from finished, and that in the near future, it is our Government which will be overwhelmed by the impact of AIDS as well as by the failures of their Affirmative Action program. It emphasises the power which the few with skills will have, over the poverty-stricken many, and how AIDS has other dimensions like the: AIDS-induced famine, and AIDS-induced-poverty, etc.

Of course, we should remember that in Zimbabwe, it was the ongoing success of a few whites which in the end, caused a weakening and failing Mugabe to strip them of their land and to break their economic back. So too, in the end, it may be that AIDS and the failures of our Government could cause them to seek scapegoats and to ultimately go after white people out of the fear that whites might dominate again. Wouldn’t it be strange if, in the end, AIDS led to a racial conflict? You never can tell…

“Published originally at EtherZone.com : republication allowed with this notice and hyperlink intact.”

Etherzone Articles by Jan Lamprecht