Week 10 : ‘Saintes and Sinners’: The Treatment Action Campaign by Janine Stephen
o 2001: 23yr old woman enter a hospital in Cape Town and tested positive for HIV/Aids
o During this time there was not a lot of info shared about HIV/Aids and what possible
treatments might be and how it works
o Dabula joining TAC
o A highly vocal and effective civil society organisation with hundreds of volunteers
and thousands of supporters (middle-class gogos to MPs and trade unionists)
Zackie Achmat
o Organised a protest outside St George’s Cathedral in Cape Town, calling for AZT (medication
used to treat HIV/Aids) for pregnant women
o Helped put TAC on the map
o Politically astute and well-schooled in tactics (due to struggles in Apartheid)
o Also been described as charismatic by colleagues
o Radical: 1976 (age 14) – entered the political space by burning down his school
o He said that he would take ARVs until all RSA’s could do the same through public health
systems
o “wrong to be able to buy life”
o He became famous for this decision
o 2003 article in ‘Globe & Mail’ written by Stephanie Nolen
o “Mr Achmat has become the face f the fight for drugs in South Africa – a media
darling, a bit of a diva”
Anneke Meerkotter
o An initial member of TAC
o Said that Zackie is the face but wasn’t the key person who mobilized people on the ground
o Core group of people in Cape Town (who set up the deeply rooted support
structures)
▪ Sipho Mthathi – teacher and poet 1999: educated Cape Town
community about the epidemic
▪ Hermann Reuter – medical doctor
▪ Mandla Majola – activist
Gugu Dlamini
o Stoned to death by members of her community after disclosing her positive status on the
radio
o This shows the lack of understanding, which is due to the lack of educations around
the disease
Mthathi; Reuter & Majola - TAC
o Held weekly workshops over the weekend, transporting participants from their homes and
back
o Using Reuter’s old station wagon
o Worked to build TAC branches
o Structures communities could be familiar with
o 2001: 23yr old woman enter a hospital in Cape Town and tested positive for HIV/Aids
o During this time there was not a lot of info shared about HIV/Aids and what possible
treatments might be and how it works
o Dabula joining TAC
o A highly vocal and effective civil society organisation with hundreds of volunteers
and thousands of supporters (middle-class gogos to MPs and trade unionists)
Zackie Achmat
o Organised a protest outside St George’s Cathedral in Cape Town, calling for AZT (medication
used to treat HIV/Aids) for pregnant women
o Helped put TAC on the map
o Politically astute and well-schooled in tactics (due to struggles in Apartheid)
o Also been described as charismatic by colleagues
o Radical: 1976 (age 14) – entered the political space by burning down his school
o He said that he would take ARVs until all RSA’s could do the same through public health
systems
o “wrong to be able to buy life”
o He became famous for this decision
o 2003 article in ‘Globe & Mail’ written by Stephanie Nolen
o “Mr Achmat has become the face f the fight for drugs in South Africa – a media
darling, a bit of a diva”
Anneke Meerkotter
o An initial member of TAC
o Said that Zackie is the face but wasn’t the key person who mobilized people on the ground
o Core group of people in Cape Town (who set up the deeply rooted support
structures)
▪ Sipho Mthathi – teacher and poet 1999: educated Cape Town
community about the epidemic
▪ Hermann Reuter – medical doctor
▪ Mandla Majola – activist
Gugu Dlamini
o Stoned to death by members of her community after disclosing her positive status on the
radio
o This shows the lack of understanding, which is due to the lack of educations around
the disease
Mthathi; Reuter & Majola - TAC
o Held weekly workshops over the weekend, transporting participants from their homes and
back
o Using Reuter’s old station wagon
o Worked to build TAC branches
o Structures communities could be familiar with
