He highlighted the dire situation facing South Africa and called for a return to the energy and alliances of eighties and nineties that helped defeat apartheid.

In his address entitled ‘In our lifetime, a new dawn’, Naidoo celebrated the appointment of the new Minister and Deputy Minister of Health as well as the new Deputy President: “We can now talk about a new leadership that can stop this juggernaut in its tracks […] And fundamentally we can talk about a real partnership, the type of partnership that captured the imagination of all South Africans, that allowed us to defeat a very powerful enemy that faced us in this country, that brought people into the streets, that mobilised church organisations,  the youth, rural organisations, the private sector, that mobilised people to say: we cannot tolerate the affront on our human dignity.”

Naidoo also called for “social mobilisation” to deal with the epidemic: “We have to go back to the lessons of the past, of social mobilisation that not only mobilises society but that makes government accountable, that makes leadership accountable.”

He called for a partnership with labour, the unions, civil society, government and the private sector to celebrate World Aids Day (1 December) and that need to unravel why so many citizens are continuing with risky behaviour.

Naidoo pointed out that the World Health Organisation estimates that the rate of mothers dying at childbirth has gone up from 230 per 100,000 to 400 per 100,000. “That is in the opposite direction to the goals we committed to in the Millennium Development Goals.

Naidoo concluded that thought leadership and partnerships were critical to addressing the profound challenges facing South Africa.

Brad Mears, CEO of SACOHA, reiterated Naidoo’s call for partnerships, social mobilisation and to hold the leadership of South Africa accountable and said that he felt confident that conference delegates would tackle these issues head on.

Speaking at a gala dinner at Emperors Palace last night, South African Deputy President, Baleka Mbete, said that government and the private sector needed to move swiftly to ensure that the National Strategic Plan to reduce the number of new HIV infections by half in 2011 is achieved. Mbete, who is also chairperson of the South African National Aids Council, (SANAC), said the country can only meet the targets if government, business, civil society and other stakeholders work together in its implementation. She said business can play an important role by mobilising much needed resources. - Les Tilley for SABCOHA

Click here to view the Keynote Address presentation given by Jay Naidoo: keynote_address

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