Monitoring

Statement of the Seventh TAC National Congress

Building a stronger TAC to realise the right of everyone to health and healthcare services
in a time of multiple crises

30 August 2022, Johannesburg — On August 27 to 29 the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC)
held its seventh national congress in Johannesburg. Our first national Congress took place 22
years ago in Soweto when comrades were dying of diseases caused by a virus we were still
trying to understand, in a world where only those with money accessed treatment that offered a
chance at surviving. Since then the world, the HIV and TB epidemics and the struggle for the
right of everyone to have access to healthcare services has changed immensely. But in some
ways things have stayed the same. Today, our world is again grappling with a virus which
causes death and devastation. The world is still trying to come to grips with COVID-19, but
again it is the haves who have had easy access to vaccines and treatment, while the developing
world watches.


TAC’s 7th Congress was attended by 236 delegates from 199 branches in eight of the country’s
nine provinces. We were also joined by allies from South Africa and countries internationally,
including India, Kenya, and Argentina. Speeches were given by SAFTU President, Ruth
Nkatlose, TAC co-founder Sharon Ekambaram and the Minister of Health, Dr Joe Phaahla.
The Congress met at a time of unprecedented threats to health in South Africa and globally. We
live in an age where everything is interconnected. The patterns of inequality in access to
COVID-19 vaccines, caused by patents and profiteering from ill-health, are reinforcing patterns
we fought successfully in relation to access to HIV medicines.


The invasion of Ukraine has upended more than two decades of work by government and
Ukrainian NGOs such as the Alliance for Public Health to turn the tide against HIV. Russia’s war
crimes against the people in Ukraine, the response of the NATO countries, and the bypassing of
the UN, is exacerbating food insecurity and hunger, that places more and more people —
womxn and girls especially — in poverty and at risk of HIV infection and sexual violence. The
climate crisis is just beginning to make its impact felt, only exacerbating the crisis in our
healthcare system. For these reasons, alarm bells are ringing about the state of the response to
HIV and TB.


In South Africa, the twin epidemics of COVID-19 and corruption has thrown us back and further
broken the health system. HIV infections are rising; too many people living with HIV are not on
HIV treatment, having never started or having disengaged from care altogether; people die from
TB unnecessarily; LGBTQIA+ communities, people who use drugs, and sex workers are
humiliated and treated in an openly hostile manner by staff at our clinics; where key populations
do continue to use the public health system, specific services remain unavailable; migrants and
those without identity documents are routinely denied access to care; and the South African
National AIDS Council dithers and offers little leadership.


Since the last Congress in 2017, TAC has pioneered new approaches such as community-led
monitoring of more than 400 clinics and community healthcare centres across the country
through the Ritshidze programme. Every three months Ritshidze hears the perspectives of
nearly 20,000 public healthcare users. In the last two months community monitors have spoken
to more than 6,000 key populations. We know and understand in detail the challenges in the
healthcare system, and have generated solutions with the community to solve these problems.
We have been recognised as global leaders in this work and comrades in many countries
across the world are following in our footsteps. We have continued to be at the forefront of
campaigning for quality care and monitoring the HIV and TB responses and broader health
system.


But we admit we need to do more and be more effective. We need to pioneer a new vision
and plan for health, rather than always reacting to a never ending succession of crises. We
need our activists to be better informed, highly treatment literate, and self sacrificing for the
cause of social justice.


This is necessary not least because in South Africa there are new challenges to the HIV
responses and old challenges with new faces: HIV infections are rising again; HIV prevention
messages have all but disappeared; there is a need to vastly improve care for people living with
HIV, key populations (including LGBTQIA+ communities, people who use drugs, and sex
workers), as well as for young people on treatment. More and more people with HIV need
access to holistic care, including for mental health, non communicable diseases and cancer.

There are also external threats such as rising xenophobia within the health system, as
exemplified by the disgraceful conduct of Phophi Ramathuba. TAC sees health as a right
without borders. The blame for long queues and undignified care is mismanagement and
corruption, not migrants. It is also the complete failure to coordinate health through SADC, and
the support our government continues to give to corrupt regimes in Zimbabwe, Swaziland,
Mozambique and elsewhere.


This means that TAC has to ally with other progressive organisations to campaign for
quality care for all.


However, we are also acutely aware of our weaknesses and challenges.


The seventh Congress was a time to take stock, to be self-critical and map the road ahead
through commissions and resolutions.


However, one of our greatest concerns is the financial sustainability of TAC. TAC is a movement
of poor and unemployed people, who all pay R20 per year. But cannot afford any more. We still
depend heavily on external funders for our activism. We call on funders to meet with us urgently
to help address our funding crisis. Without TAC there will be no movement for the right to health
in South Africa.


Some of the key resolutions we took are:
● TAC will continue to use community-led monitoring to document and expose health system crises
at a local level in order to turnaround the situation in the public healthcare system.
● TAC believes that all people living with HIV starting or restarting treatment should be treated with
dignity and respect. People returning to care should be treated with compassion to ensure that
they can restart treatment easily, without being shouted at or sent to the back of the queue. We
will push for the proper implementation of the National Department of Health’s adherence
guidelines and welcome back campaign strategy.
● TAC will continue to monitor the implementation of the TB recovery plan to ensure that TB
services are actually improved for communities. TAC will use community-led monitoring data in
order to assess these improvements at facilities and to hold duty bearers accountable for
improvements. If sufficient improvements are not made, we will reinstate the call to declare TB a
public health emergency.
● TAC considers it morally unacceptable and a violation of constitutional rights that key populations
— including LGBTQIA+ communities, people who use drugs, and sex workers — are
disrespected, humiliated and dehumanised at public health facilities. We are committed to
activism that will ensure the provision of safe, friendly, welcoming, and confidential services at all
health facilities.
● TAC will actively fight against xenophobia and the discrimination of migrants in our organisation
and in wider society and commit to assist in concientising people both internally and externally on
the shared plight of poor and marginalised people. TAC commits to joining mass movements that
are actively fighting xenophobia and medical xenophobia.
● TAC will publicly call out corruption and corrupt officials who take resources from citizens at all
levels — including local, district, provincial and national levels.
● TAC will continue supporting public healthcare users, people living with HIV and TB, key
populations, and all our comrades globally in their fight for equitable access to quality healthcare
services — including comrades from the Delhi Network of Positive People (DNP+) who for more
than 30 days have been protesting ARV stockouts in India, and the Ukrainian Network of Positive
People.


Finally, as a sign of its unity of purpose, TAC’s new leadership were elected unopposed. They
are:
National Chairperson: Sibongile Tshabalala
General Secretary: Anele Yawa
Deputy Chairperson: Annah Maluleke
Deputy General Secretary: Patrick Mdletshe
PLHIV Sector: Fikile Mtsweni
Key Population Sector: Phillimon Twala
Youth Sector: Reen Ndlovu
Men Sector: Simon Shongwe


Given its vital importance going forward, the position of Womxn’s Sector representative was
referred to the National Council for co-option of a member.


TAC has committed to holding its new leaders to a high level of accountability, transparency and
performance.


Next year TAC will be 25 years old. We acknowledge all the leaders who have come before us
to make TAC a human rights leader. We remember the hundreds of our comrades who have
died of AIDS, TB, COVID-19 and other diseases.

Become an activist for the right to health. Join TAC today! Donate to TAC today. Fight to save
lives.


ENDS


For media comments, please contact:

Ngqabutho Nceku Mpofu: 072 225 9675 or via email: ngqabutho.mpofu@tac.org.za

Xabisa Qwabe: 076 8506736 or via email: xabisa.qwabe@mail.org.za


TAC’s 7th National Congress resolutions are available here: