PEPFAR withdrawal has spurred on govt to become more self-reliant
CAPE TOWN - Deputy President Paul Mashatile said the withdrawal of funding from the United States (US) to fund the country's HIV/Aids programmes has spurred on government to become more self-reliant.
He said African governments need to use their own natural resources to fund their programmes and should not have to go cap in hand to anybody.
Again, responding to questions in the National Assembly on Thursday on the impact of the withdrawal of President's Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (PEPFAR) funding, Mashatile said no HIV/Aids patient would suffer as a result.
READ: Godongwana lists PEPFAR withdrawal as one of several spending pressures in his budget
Mashatile has reiterated that the R8 billion in lost funding for HIV/Aids programmes in 2025 won't impact the supply of anti-retroviral (ARV) medication nor the target of getting another 1.1 million people on life-saving drugs before the end of 2035.
While the South African National Aids Council, which Mashatile chairs, is hoping the National Lottery comes through for it to plug the gap, Mashatile said if it does not, other options like the national fiscus are already being explored.
'I'm not saying we will abandon the US. They remain one of our biggest trading partners, but we must not go cap in hand to anyone.'
Mashatile was then involved in a tense exchange with the Freedom Front (FF) Plus's Philip van Staden, who said people were suffering as a result of government 'blunders'.
He wanted to know how thousands of healthcare workers who had lost their jobs due to the withdrawal of PEPFAR funding would be compensated, but he refused to clarify his comments when asked by Mashatile.
'People are suffering because of government blunders. I don't know what you are talking about. What blunders are those?'
Mashatile said government is looking to the BRICS groups of countries and the African Union (AU) to collaborate in the fight against HIV and Aids.
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