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NELSON MANDELA

 

Nelson Mandela
2002

Nelson Mandela visits Zackie Achmat at home

Source TapeNelson Mandela visited Zackie Achmat with the intention to ask him to reconsider commencing antiretroviral therapy. Zackie respectfully refused Mandela's request prompting Mandela to say in a press conference after their meeting that Zackie "is a role model and his action is based on fundamental principles, which we all admire." "People far beyond our borders are aware of the principled stand that he has taken. It would have been feeble for me to come to him to say: "I want you now to change; to take drugs," because his position is that as long as drugs are not available to everybody especially the poor, he will not take them."
2005

Siyayinqoba Beat It! 2005 Episode 9 - Good leaders lead

Video clipIn this episode we explored the impact of political leaders disclosing that they have lost family members to HIV/AIDS and how the public disclosure of Justice Edwin Cameron was used as an advocacy tool to push for access to treatment for all. Studio guest, Azola Goqwana, shared a youth perspective and debated the role of HIV/AIDS leadership in all sectors of society with Siyayinqoba support group members.
Documentaries

Patient Abuse

Video clipPatient Abuse follows the events leading up to the formation of the Treatment Action Campaign and their struggles to access affordable quality treatment for all South Africans, by challenging the patent laws protecting the profits of multinational drug companies. Patient Abuse tells of how the Treatment Action Campaign grew from a handful of people on the steps of St Georges Cathedral to an organisation of thousands with support from activists around the globe. In April of 2001 the TAC was victorious when the PMA withdrew it's case.

Law and Freedom

Director: Zackie Achmat

Video clipPart 1: Who Was Mrs Komani? relates the dramatic cases that led to the abolition of the death penalty and the decriminalisation of sodomy, a ruling that acknowledged the equality of gay and lesbian people. These judgments stand in contrast to the legal execution, harassment and persecution of apartheid era law. However, even under apartheid, as human rights lawyer Geoff Budlender explains: "Law was a limit on power" and so spaces arose in which people could use the law to contest the abuse of power. One key example explored in the film is that of Mr and Mrs Komani whose 1980 case was a key cause of the collapse of the hated Pass Laws. Who Was Mrs. Komani? brings to light the people who made possible these cases which have dramatically affected the lives of our people and the history of our country.

Media, Method, Message

Video clipMedia, Method, Message follows the story of Beat It! the worlds first HIV/AIDS magazine programme. Narrated by the shows co-creator and director Jack Lewis, we see how Beat It! worked towards removing the stigma associated with HIV/AIDS and addressed the concerns of real people living with AIDS through documentary inserts and an in studio HIV+ support group.

TAC the first five years

Video clipThe Treatment Action Campaign “in less than five years of existence moved a nation, shifted government policy and advanced the rights of people with HIV everywhere in the world… TAC’s struggle grows out of the best traditions of the anti-apartheid movement. TAC will be a shining light for citizen action for decades to come.” - Graca Machel, on presenting TAC with the Nelson Mandela, Health and Human Rights Award in 2002.