Much Ado About Manto!

I am astounded by the emotional overreaction of a group of people over my comments about the death of Former Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang.
 
My opinion of her in life was not a particularly favourable one and I am sure she might have thought the same of me - but this is of no import. Now that she is dead, it would appear I am required to put up the pretence that I am sad for it. I'm afraid I can't be quite so pious.

To her family: Losing a mother, grandmother or relative is a horrible experience. You have my sympathy - on a human level - but you can take heart from all the notables paying their respects.  I doubt mine would matter.

Minister Tshabalala-Msimang presided over the most disastrous policy decisions in South African medical history. While Minister she resolutely refused to accept the wide scientific consensus on the links between HIV and AIDS and brooked not a stitch of opposition to her refusal to provide anti-retroviral medication to, among others, pregnant women suffering from AIDS. Her tendency to accept the theories of widely discredited quacks like Matthias Raath and the unquestioning support of her boss, Thabo Mbeki, further distanced her from the people she was appointed to help. It goes without saying that South Africa suffers from the worst worldwide prevalence and infection rate for AIDS and so these matters have to be seen, in context, as the most paramount for any South African Health Ministry. Her removal from office by Kgalema Motlanthe was long overdue when she was ousted late last year. The Los Angeles Times claims, in an article today (17/12/09), that she was directly or indirectly responsible for the deaths of some 300 000 people. These are the facts. The opinions, caricatured all over the world were much harsher: "Dr. Beetroot" was hardly a figure of universal love and devotion.
 
So why now are we required to show such uniform (if we are to believe the great majority of media outlets) sadness and piety? Surely this is the same kind of hypocrisy that saw Michael Jackson absolved of all the child-molestation offences the moment he left this mortal coil...
 
The overarching legacy of this woman is not going to be her "practicality" or "the advancement of women's rights" as proffered by the ANC this morning. It was not four weeks ago that some within the ANC were calling for Thabo Mbeki to be tried for crimes against humanity over his AIDS policy. With this same brush must Manto not be tarred?

So when I was called by Primedia EyeWitness News today to respond to the ANC Youth League’s  demand for an apology from me (as usual, they’re talking through the media who respond dutifully every time – Julius, just call me Dude – you have my number), I couldn’t help wondering why so much valuable time and space is given to a simple tweet.   Some of us will agree.... and others will agree to disagree.   Great minds don’t always think alike.   But what we have to agree on is the power of Twitter.   Who would have thought a little twit could evoke such a reaction?

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