Bitter Fight Over AIDS In Africa

(AP)  AIDS activists filed criminal complaints against two top South African officials on Thursday, accusing them of manslaughter and demanding their arrest.

Five members of a group called the Treatment Action Campaign filed the charges at the Sharpeville police station against Health Minister Dr. Manto Tshabala-Msimang and Trade Minister Alec Erwin.

The activists were accompanied by nearly 200 fellow activists who stood silently outside the station wearing T-shirts that said "HIV Positive" and "Dying to be treated."

In South Africa, civilians can file criminal charges with police. Police pass the accusations to prosecutors who decide whether to pursue the allegations.

In Cape Town, 110 protesters were arrested Thursday while trying to file the same claims, police said.

The activists say the government has failed to provide adequate treatment for the people with HIV. About one in nine people in South Africa is infected with the AIDS virus and 600 die of AIDS-related illnesses every day.

"I will stand strong for the justice of the people," said Prudence Mabele, an HIV-positive member of the TAC.

Health Ministry spokeswoman Jo-Anne Collinge said "it's probably premature for us to comment on the basis of the information we have."

Erwin was not available for comment.

Sharpeville is a poor, black town 40 miles south of Johannesburg where police killed 69 anti-apartheid protesters 43 years ago Thursday. March 21 is now a public holiday called Human Rights Day.


By Sharon Golan