Mon séjour en Afrique du Sud (Cape Town)

The South African Council of Churches (SACC) on Thursday said it was shocked and dismayed at Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota's announcement that the country's armed forces would "no longer accept HIV positive people into its ranks."

The South African National Defence Force (SANDF)'s policy on HIV recruits was immoral to consider that a person living with HIV/AIDS was unfit to serve the country, said Father Gary Thompson, the SACC director for HIV/AIDS Programmes.

Thompson said that it was regrettable for a government department, a custodian of the country's constitution, to so blatantly discriminate against its own people because of their health condition.

"Attitudes like this fuels stigmatisation and perpetuates discrimination. When activists the world over are calling for openness and acceptance, the SANDF opts for a position that gives more reason for people not to declare their status," Thompson said.

He also regretted that such a stance was being taken by government at a time when the world was crying out for more compassion for people living with HIV/AIDS.

"Surely the SANDF will not apply the same criteria for people suffering from tuberculosis. In the same way that untreated TB is fatal for one's health, treatment for HIV can prolong the life of individuals," Thompson noted.

Lekota on Wednesday disclosed that about 20 to 22 percent of the members of the defence force were HIV positive.

He added: "Anybody with the condition (HIV) cannot be recruited into the defence force. There is no point. You can't take in ill people into the positions in the army. It's not useful."

The defence minister said those already ill and part of the SANDF would be deployed "where they are deployable. We will support them."

But Thompson called on Lekota and SANDF to seriously rethink their position and find alternative ways of utilising the much needed skills of people living with HIV/AIDS and not only limit them to combat which he said appears to be the reason for their exclusion.

The National Association of People Living with HIV/AIDS has also criticised the minister's remarks, saying that the move would further increase discrimination and stigmatisation of people living with HIV/AIDS.